SOUTHOLD 


1 04.0-1 749* 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


HISTORY 


SOUTHOLD,   L.  I. 


ITS  FIRST  CENTURY. 


REV.  El'HER    WHITAKER,  D.  D., 


Pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Soulhold,  Councilor  of  the  Long  Island 

Historical   Society,    Corresponding    Meml>er   of    the    New 

York  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Society,  etc. 


SOUTHOLD  : 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR. 
1881. 


COPYRIGHT   BY 
EPHER     WHITAKER. 

1881. 


PRESS  OF  THE  ORANGE  CHRONICLE, 
ORANGE,  N.  J. 


S72,V\J5~ 


TO 

MR.    THOMAS   R.  TROWBRIDGE 

AND 

MR.  WILLIAM  H.  H.  MOORE, 

WHO     MAY    SEVERALLY    REPRESENT    THE    PLACES    OF    THEIR 

BIRTH,  THE  CENTRAL  CITY  AND  THE  REMOTEST 

TOWN    OF 

THE  NEW  HAVEN  COLONY, 

AND  WHOSE  APPRECIATION  AND  GENEROSITY  HAVE  CHEERED 

THE   PREPARATION    OF  THIS   VOLUME,   IT   IS   MOST 

RESPECTFULLY  AND   GRATEFULLY 

DEDICATED  BY 

THE      AUTHOR. 


O-3  4  O;  \r> 


PREFACE. 

The  acquisition  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
knowledge  -contained  in  this  volume  has  re- 
sulted from  the  duties  and  necessities  of  the 
Christian  ministry  in  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
First  Church  of  Southold  for  the  last  thirty 
years.  The  preparation  of  the  book  for  the 
press  has  been  the  rest  and  recreation  of  many 
a  weary  hour  during  most  of  this  ministry. 
Various  hindrances  have  resisted  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  undertaking,  and  caused  a 
less  orderly  arrangement  of  the  materials  of 
the  work,  as  well  as  a  less  vigorous  and  at- 
traclive  style,  than  could  be  desired;  but  the 
belief  is  cherished,  that  the  imperfections  of 
the  book,  however  clearly  seen  by  the  reader, 
and  deeply  felt  by  the  writer,  should  not  for- 
bid its  publication.  For  it  is  highly  desirable, 
that  the  early  life  and  worth — the  purpose, 


VI  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

spirit,  circumstances,  deeds  and  sufferings— 
in  a  word,  the  History  of  the  people  of  this 
Town  should  be  so  presented,  that  its  main 
features,  at  least,  may  be  easily  known  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  field  on  which 
labor  for  this  end  has  been  expended  is  the 
Past ;  but  the  harvest  desired  is  for  the  Future. 
The  work  aims  to  supply  the  wants  of  poster- 
ity not  less  than  to  satisfy  the  requirements 
of  the  present  time.  He  who  plants  a  tree 
that  will  yield  good  fruit  after  the  sod  has  cov- 
ered him,  may  render  an  acceptable  service 
to  many,  even  though  not  one  of  his  own  gen- 
eration profits  by  his  care  and  forethought  for 
the  welfare  and  comfort  of  his  successors ; 
and  he  who  provides  the  means  which  will 
contribute  to  gratify  the  wholesome  desires 
and  supply  the  mental  and  moral  wants  of 
those  who  shall  live  in  coming  .years,  may 
perhaps  not  labor  in  vain.  It  is  altogether 
fit,  that  the  Christian  minister  should  look 
forward.  The  objects  of  his  chief  thought 
and  concern  have  the  closest  relations  to  the 
endless  Future ;  and  it  is  most  reasonable, 
that  he  should  take  the  liveliest  interest  in  the 
wants,  the  prosperity,  the  comfort,  the  virtue 
and  the  piety  of  the.  generations  to  come. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

These  motives  have  produced  this  book. 
Some  parts  of  it  may  be  found  in  two  Papers, 
prepared  by  invitation  of  the  Long  Island  His- 
torical Society,  and  read  in  its  meetings,  re- 
spectively on  "  The  First  Church  of  Southold," 
and  on  "  The  First  Pastor  of  Southold  ;  "  and 
in  a  Paper,  prepared  by  invitation  of  the  New 
Haven  Colony  Historical  Society,  and  read 
before  it,  on  "  The  Early  History  of  Southold." 
The  latter  is  printed  in  the  Second  Volume  of 
the  Society's  Papers. 

The  subject-matter  of  this  History  has  been 
drawn  from  so  many  sources,  both  original 
and  secondary,  that  it  is  impossible  to  name 
them  all.  Many  of  them  are  indicated  in  the 
successive  chapters;  and  it  is  believed,  that 
the  statements  based  upon  them,  are  in  a 
high  degree  trustworthy. 

Special  acknowledgments,  justly  due,  are 
hereby  gratefully  tendered,  to  Mr.  GEORGE 
HANNAH,  Librarian  of  the  Long  Island  Histor- 
ical Society,  and  his  Assistants  ;  to  the  Rev. 
ADDISON  C.  V.  SCHENCK,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Historical  Society  ;  and  to  Mr.  FREDERICK 
SAUNDERS,  of  the  Astor  Library,  for  the  ut- 
most courtesy  and  kindness.  Thanks  are  also 
due,  and  gratefully  tendered,  to  the  Rev. 


viil  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

WILLIAM  F.  WHITAKER,  Pastor  of  the  St.  Cloud 
Presbyterian  Church,  Orange,  New  Jersey, 
for  his  generous  aid  in  conducing  the  volume 
through  the  press. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  book  will  be  all  the 
more  acceptable  by  reason  of  its  several  en- 
gravings, which  are  in  the  highest  degree  ef- 
fective as  illustrations. 

There  are  abundant  materials  at  hand  for 
an  interesting  History  of  the  Second  Century 
of  Southold  ;  but  whether  a  second  volume 
shall  be  prepared  for  the  press,  time  must 
determine.  E.  W. 

SOUTIIOLD,  July  2,    I  88  I. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I.— 1640-1672. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  attraction  of  historic  sources — First  Christian  In- 
stitutions in  America — The  Rev.  John  Youngs  comes  to 
Southold,  L.  I.  — His  former  home  in  Suffolk  County, 
England — Not  Southolt  in  Hoxne  Hundred— Letter  from 
the  Rev.  Reclor  Frederick  French — Letter  from  the  Rev. 
Diocesan  Registrar  Bonsly — Southwold  in  Blything 
Hundred— Youngses  in  that  neighborhood — Rev.  John 
Youngs  at  Salem,  Mass. --His  sojourn  at  New  Haven — 
He  comes  to  Southold — Here  he  gathers  his  church 
anew,  Oct.  21,  1640 — The  fanciful  story  of  thirteen  orig- 
inal settlers — Barnabas  Elorton — William  Wells — William 
Hallock — John  and  Henry  Tuthill — Thomas  Mapes — 
William  Furrier,  John  Cooper  and  Edmond  Farrington — 
Matthias  Corwin — Robert  Akerly — Jacob  Corey — John 


2  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Conklin — Isaac  Arnold — Thomas  Moore — Capt.  John 
Underhill — Barnabas  Wines — John  Budd — Purchase  from 
the  Indians  by  the  New  Haven  Government,  August, 
1640 — Lease  from  James  Farrett  to  Matthew  Sunderland, 
June,  1639 — Deed  from  Lord  Sterling's  agent  to  Richard 
Jackson,  August  15,  1640 — Planting  of  Southold,  South- 
ampton, New  Haven — Purchase  of  Indian  titles  by  Eng- 
lishmen in  New  England — In  Plymouth,  Wethersfield, 
Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  York — On  Long  Island  in 
Southold,  Southampton,  Jamaica — Southold  the  first 
Town  settled  on  Long  Island — Older  than  Southampton 
in  all  essential  points — Hon.  Henry  A.  Reeves's  state- 
ment— Southold's  Indian  name — Its  early  "  freeholders 
and  inhabitants  " — Character  and  work  of  the  early  set- 
tlers— Their  names — Their  religious  life — Some  remove 
to  other  places — Thomas  Baker,  Jeremiah  Meacham  and 
George  Miller  to  Easthampton — John  Tucker,  William 
Fanley,  John  Budd,  Arthur  Smyth,  Robert  Akerly  and 
John  Frost  to  Brookhaven — Capt.  John  Underbill  to 
Oyster  Bay — Letter  from  him — His  wife's  sister,  Han- 
nah Feke,  marries  John  Bowne — Thomas  Stevenson 
moves  to  Newtown — Thomas  Benedict  to  Huntington, 
to  Jamaica,  and  lastly  to  Xorwalk,  Conn. — John  Bayley 
to  Jamaica,  and  perhaps  to  Elizabeth,  X.  J. — William 
Cramer,  John  Dickerson,  John  Haines,  William  John- 
son, Jeffrey  Jones.  Evan  Salisbury,  Barnabas  Wines,  Jr., 
and  Thomas  Youngs  to  Elizabeth,  X.  J. — Eminent  de- 
scendants of  the  early  settlers — Youngses,  Wellses,  Hor- 
tons,  Dickinsons,  Wineses — Letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  E. 
C.  Wines — Corwins,  Swezeys,  Sewards — Some  of  the 
early  inhabitants  restless — Most  and  best  planted  for  Re- 
ligion—  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon's  statement — Southold's 
first  church  and  cemetery — Southold's  choice  of  the 
New  Haven  Jurisdiction — Southampton  and  Easthamp- 
ton join  Connecticut — Southold's  purpose — Determina- 
tion to  maintain  its  rights — Injuries  to  the  Puritans 


CONTENTS.  3 

threatened — Puritans  often  reproached  and  slandered — 
Imaginary  code  of  "  Blue  Laws  " — Falsehoods  of  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Peters — Southold's  love  for  freedom,  vir- 
tue, piety — Hardships  and  toils  of  the  settlers — Their  be- 
neficent labors  for  posterity — The  Puritans  the  authors 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom  in  England  and  America — 
Constitution  of  the  New  Haven  Towns — New  Haven 
united  to  Connecticut  in  1665 — Removal  of  Branford  to 
Newark,  N.  J. — Rev.  John  Davenport  from  New  Haven 
to  Boston — Early  laws  of  the  Jurisdiction — Tunes  of  the 
planting — Thirty  years'  war — Spain  loses  Brazil — Makes 
acquisitions  in  Italy — Persecution  of  Galileo — Scientific 
discoveries — Fruitfulness  in  Literature  and  Art — Ad- 
vance in  statesmanship — Progress  in  Civilization — Great 
changes  in  England — Eminent  writers — Age  of  enter- 
prise— Maritime  activity  and  exploration — England  a 
swarming  hive Page  17-78 


CHAPTER  II. 

Southold's  choice  of  its  site — Features  of  the  place — 
Increase  of  the  inhabitants — Allotment  of  lands — Home- 
lots  of  the  chief  men,  Rev.  John  Youngs,  William  Wells, 
Barnabas  Horton,  John  Budd,  Capt.  John  Underhill, 
Thomas  Mapes,  Barnabas  Wines,  Thomas  Terry,  Phile- 
mon Dickerson,  Thomas  Moore,  Benjamin  Moore,  Hen- 
ry Case,  Charles  Glover,  Joseph  Youngs,  Col.  Isaac  Ar- 
nold, Col  John  Youngs — Chief  men  of  the  second  gener- 
ation, Col.  Arnold  and  Col.  John  Youngs — Town  Rec- 
ords before  1651  lost — Earliest  history  fragmentary — 
Life  and  local  legislation  of  the  place — Division  and  al- 
lotment of  Calves'  Neck,  1658 — Firing  of  woods  to  im- 
prove pasture — Protection  against  burning  of  buildings — 
Regulations  for  watching  and  warding — For  keeping 


4  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

records — For  collecting  taxes — For  assigning  seats  in 
the  Meeting  House  according  to  rank,  age,  office,  &c. — 
For  making  vice  and  crime  pay  expenses — For  keeping 
Town  streets  in  good  condition — For  the  wharf  at  the 
Head  of  the  Harbor — For  pasturing  cattle — For  building 
a  wind  mill  on  Pine  Neck — Adjustment  of  boundaries 
with  Southampton — Sale  of  a  vessel — Price  of  grain  and 
provisions — Bequest  of  children — Laws  for  boats,  canoes, 
skiffs — For  prohibiting  sale  of  dogs,  rum  and  arms  to 
Indians — For  paying  premiums  to  destroyers  of  wolves, 
foxes  and  other  "  varment  " — Election  of  Selectmen — 
Conditions  of  selling  real  estate — Mildness  of  the  crim- 
inal code — Superiority  to  old  abuses — The  Bible  the  gen- 
eral law — Less  than  twenty  crimes  punished  by  death 
here  instead  of  hundreds  in  England — Popular  knowl- 
edge of  the  general  law — Bill  of  Rights — Provisions  for 
public  education — For  public  worship — Penalties  for 
disturbing  it — Conviction  and  punishment  of  Humphrey 
Norton — Sales  of  property  must  be  recorded — Registry 
of  births,  marriages  and  deaths — Records  open  to  inspec- 
tion and  transcript— All  legal  proceedings  to  be  put  on 
record — Distribution  of  property  among  heirs — Two 
causes  for  divorce —  Justice  and  kindness  towards  the  sav- 
ages— Hostilities  and  suffering  from  national  wars — Mil- 
itary regulations — Burdens  of  the  people  born  for  oth- 
ers— Attempts  to  invade  their  liberties — Character  of 
Charles  II. — Character  of  the  first  settler  and  pastor  of 
Southold— His  death  and  that  of  William  Wells— The 
first  pastor's  grave — Inscription  on  his  tomb-stone — In- 
ventory on  his  property — Order  of  administration  to  his 
widow — His  children— His  theology — Monuments  of 
early  settlers,  Youngs,  Horton,  Wells,  Dickinson,  Conk- 
lin,  and  others— The  original  cemetery — Site  of  the  first 
Meeting  House— Structure  of  this  building — Its  various 
uses — Its  hallowed  associations.  .  .  Page  81-126 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER  III. 

Wars  and  governmental  changes — New  Haven  united 
to  Connecticut — Connecticut's  Committee  in  Southold 
June  1664 — Col.  Richard  Nicholl  subdues  the  Dutch  of 
New  Amsterdam,  1664 — Claims  Long  Island  for  the 
Duke  of  York — Southold  and  Southampton  protest,  but 
submit — Order  for  the  Towns  to  elect  deputies — South- 
old  clefts  William  Wells,  Esq.,  and  Col.  John  Youngs — 
Petition  of  the  Town  to  Col.  Nicholl — Deputies  of  all 
the  Long  Island  Towns  meet  in  Hempstead,  March 
1665 — The  Duke's  Laws  imposed — Formation  of  York- 
shire— Suffolk  Count}'  its  East  Riding — Southold's  dis- 
satisfaction— Character  of  the  Duke  of  York — Union  of 
the  East  End  Towns  in  1672  to  maintain  their  rights — 
Measures  that  oppressed  them — Their  protest  burned 
by  the  Governor  and  Council — New  troubles — Conquest 
by  the  Dutch,  July  1673 — The  East  End  summoned  to 
submit — These  Towns  ask  Connecticut  for  protection — 
Their  appeal  to  the  king  in  Council,  especially  in  con- 
sideration of  their  whaling  trade — Petition  of  the  East 
End  to  the  Dutch  Gov.  Colve,  August  14,  1673 — Reply 
to  the  petition — Features  of  the  petition  and  reply — 
Connecticut  gives  notice  to  the  Dutch  that  the  United 
Colonies  of  New  England  will  protect  Long  Island  east 
of  Oyster  Bay — The  Dutch  appoint  officers  for  Suffolk 
County — Col.  Isaac  Arnold  of  Southold  appointed  chief 
officer  of  the  County — The  Dutch  require  an  oath  of  fi- 
delity— The  Dutch  Governor  sends  Commissioners — 
They  visit  all  the  Towns — None  willing  to  take  the 
oath — Southold  had  already,  September  29,  assigned  rea- 
sons against  it — Southampton,  Oct.  i,  follows  Southold  ; 
Easthampton,  Oct.  2;  Setauket  Oct.  4 ;  and  Huntington, 
Oct.  6 — The  Commissioners  report  to  the  Governor,  Oct. 
20 — Answers  of  the  Towns  to  the  Dutch  demand — The 

I 


6  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

Dutch  send  no  force,  but  a  second  Commission — Hunt- 
ington  and  Setauket  yield,  Oct.  28 — Most  worthy  Com- 
missioners sent  to  the  East  End  and  important  abate- 
ments made — Adventures  of  these  Commissioners — They 
meet  on  the  voyage  Connecticut  Commissioners — Both 
come  to  Southold — Their  reception  here — Their  proceed- 
ings in  this  place — The  difficulties  of  the  Dutch  Com- 
missioners— They  determine  not  to  visit  the  other 
Towns — They  return  to  New  Amsterdam  and  report — 
The  Dutch  Governor's  bold  letter  to  Connecticut — 
Treaty  of  peace  between  the  Dutch  and  English  nations 
signed  Feb.  9,  1674 — New  Amsterdam  surrendered  to  the 
English  Nov.  10,  1674 — Southold  thus  subject  again  to 
the  Duke  of  York — He  becomes  king  in  1685  and  his 
Province  royal — Religion  and  liberty  maintained  here 
through  all  these  changes — Possessions  of  the  people 
here — Their  trades  and  occupations — Their  household 
furniture  and  style  of  living,  food,  dress,  &c. — Their  so- 
cial and  kindly  disposition — Their  hardships  and  sick- 
nesses— Their  burial  of  the  dead  in  tenderness,  sobriety 
and  seriousness  without  funeral  solemnities — Their  pub- 
lic and  household  worship.  .  .  .  Page  129-164 


PART  II.— 1674-1717. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  second  pnstor,  Rev,  Joshua  Hobart — His  ances- 
try— His  father,  Rev.  Peter  Hobart,  in  England,  in 
America,  at  Hingham,  Mass. —  Rev.  Peter  Hobart's  sons 
in  the  ministry — Letter  from  the  Hon.  Solomon  Lincoln. 


CONTENTS.  7 

historian  of  Hingham — His  memorandum— Charles  B. 
Moore's  account  of  the  second  pastor  before  his  settle- 
ment in  Southold — The  Town's  arrangements  after  the 
first  pastor's  death  to  obtain  a  Minister — Their  provision 
for  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart  in  lands,  dwelling.,  salary, 
May  22,  1674 — Increase  of  his  salary  from  ^80  to  ,£100, 
May  13,  1678 — The  greatness  of  his  settlement  and  salary 
— Payments  of  his  salary — Respective  parts  paid  by  the 
East  End  and  the  West  End  of  the  Town — Letters  from 
him  to  the  Town  Meeting  April  3, 1685 — His  request  for  an 
exchange  of  lands  gran  ted — The  beautiful  site  of  his  dwel- 
ling— He  sells  the  place  to  the  Town  in  1701 — After  his 
death  the  home  of  his  successors,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Ben- 
jamin Woolsey,  James  Davenport,  William  Throop  and 
John  Storrs — Tax  payers  at  his  settlement — Comparative 
value  of  their  property.  .  .  .  Page  167-187 


CHAPTER  V. 

Another  attempt  to  rejoin  Connecticut — Action  of  the 
Town,  Nov.  17,  1674 — Rev.  Mr.  Hobart  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Hutchinson  chosen  with  power — Cause  of  this  action — 
Sylvester  Salisbury  sent  hither  by  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
the  oppressive  Governor  of  New  York  and  of  Massachu- 
setts— Salisbury's  notice  to  the  Town — The  Duke  of 
York's  acknowledgment  of  its  reduction  to  obedience  by 
Andros — Southold's  last  vain  effort  to  rejoin  Connecti- 
cut, June,  1689 — Events  abroad — Changes  in  England — 
Condition  of  New  England — Indian  wars — Great  mor- 
tality— Southold  appoints  Richard  Benjamin  to  be  grave 
digger — Benjamin  Youngs  chosen  Recorder  in  1674,  to 
succeed  Richard  Terry,  chosen  in  1662  to  succeed  Wil- 
liam Welles,  the  first  Recorder — The  Town  accepts  a  Pat- 
ent from  Gov.  Andros — The  Patent  carefully  drawn — 
The  Patentees  convey  their  patent  rights  to  the  Free- 


8  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

holders  Inhabitants  of  the  Town — No  change  of  the  re- 
ligious liberties  of  the  people — Gradual  enlargement  of 
the  territory  of  the  Town  by  purchase  from  the  sava- 
ges— Indian  Deed  for  the  whole  territory  of  the  Town — 
Town  Patent-Deed  of  the  Patentees  to  the  Freeholders 
Inhabitants — Law  for  the  incorporation  of  the  Common- 
ers— Amendment  thereto — The  second  pastor  promi- 
nent in  civil,  industrial  and  medical  affairs — The  first 
medical  practitioner — Privileges  granted  to  the  chief 
men — A  new  Meeting  House  built  in  1684 — The  old 
House  made  a  County  Prison — The  Horton  house  en- 
larged for  a  County  Court  House — Picture  of  the  Hor- 
ton house — The  site  of  the  former  church  edifices — 
Changes  indicated  by  the  tax  list  of  1683 — Names  that 
disappeared  between  1675  and  1683 — New  names — Com- 
parative permanence  of  lamily  names — The  rich  more 
enduring  than  the  poor — Purchase  of  John  Herbert's 
land  in  1697  for  the  use  of  the  Minister — John  Herbert 
and  his  father  John  Herbert — He  makes  in  16993  deed 
for  the  land  on  which  stand  the  present  Church  and  par- 
sonage— This  land  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
First  Church  by  virtue  of  their  incorporation  in  1784-- 
Hon.  Ezra  L'Hommedieu,  a  member  of  the  Southold 
Church,  probably  the  author  of  the  State  law  for  their 
incorporation — Provisions  of  the  law— Election  of  the 
first  Board — Certificate  of  incorporation — The  earliest  on 
Long  Island — The  attesting  Judge,  Thomas  Youngs,  of 
Southold — The  Board  perpetual — The  property  used  for 
its  proper  purposes — Gallery  built  in  the  east  end  of  the 
Meeting  House  in  1699;  in  the  west  end  in  1700  -Car- 
penters' bills—  Bills  for  care  of  the  Meeting  House  -The 
Town's  purchase  of  the  pastor's  homestead  in  1701-- 
Probable  reasons  therefor — This  house  repaired  in  1702  — 
Puritans  in  the  Province  compelled  to  lie  cautious  — 
Lord  Cornbury's  government  -Attempt  to  establish  the 
Episcopal  church — Trinity  church,  New  York,  opened  in 


CONTENTS.  9 

1697 — Obtains  the  King's  farm   in    1703 — Infamous   op- 
pression of  the  Presbyterians  in  Jamaica  by  Gov.  Corn- 
bury — He  repays  good  with  evil — Seizes  the  property  of 
Presbyterians — Imprisons  their    Ministers — His    shame- 
ful profligacy  and  imprisonment — His  father  dies,  and  he 
becomes  an  English   Peer,  a  member    of  the    House  of 
Lords — Better    government     under     Hunter — Southold 
builds  a  new  Meeting  House — The  roof  unsatisfa<ftory — 
"A  flatter   roof  "ordered   in    1711 — The   people  increase 
and  spread  east  and  west — New  houses  of  worship  desir- 
ed at  Mattituck  and  Orient — Supply  of  Ministers  increas- 
ing— James    Reeve  gives   land    in    Mattituck  about  1715 
for  the  site  of  a  Meeting  House  and   Burying  Ground — 
Rev.  Joseph  Lamb    ordained    Minister — David    Youngs 
gives,  January    i,  1818,  a  deed   for   the  site  of  a  Meeting 
House  in  Orient — The  building  erected  in  1718  and  1719 — 
Amid  these  changes  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart  dies,  Feb. 
28,   1717 — The  Town    orders    his    tomb-stone — Accounts 
rendered  for   building  his   tomb   with  stone  lime — Com- 
mon lime  then  made  of  burnt  shells — Inscription  on  his 
tomb-stone — The    poetic     part     by     the     Rev.    Mather 
Byles,  D.  D.,  of  Boston— Rev.   Dr.   Byles— Copy  of  the 
Inscription — The    grave    of  the    Pastor's    wife  near  his 
own — Their  descendants  unknown.     .        .     Page  191-245 


PART  III.— 1720-1736. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Third  Pastor,  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey — Relation  of 
Yarmouth,  England,  to  Southold— Mr.  Woolsey's  ances- 
try— Their  relations  to  Rev.  Dr.  Ames,  Rev.  Messrs. 
Hugh  Peters,  of  Salem,  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Hartford, 


JO  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

and  others — Some  of  them  come  to  Salem — Mr.  Wool- 
sey's  grandfather  becomes  a   resident   of   New  York — 
Moves    to     Jamaica — Chosen    Town     Clerk,     1673 — Mr 
Woolsey's  father,  George,  Jr.,  becomes  prominent  in  Ja- 
maica— George  Woolsey,  3d,  moves  to  Pennington,  New 
Jersey — His  descendants  there — Our  third  Pastor  born 
in  Jamaica — His  education  at  Yale   College — His   mar- 
riage— Early    years  of   his   Ministry  in  various  places — 
Complaint    against    Gov.    Hunter    for    allowing    him   to 
preach  in  the  Episcopal    church,   Hopewell,  N.  J. — His 
installation  in  Southold,  July,  1720 — Fruits  of  his  Minis- 
try—  Rev.    Abner    Reeve — His    education    at    Yale — His 
Ministry — His    sons,  Rev.   Ezra  Reeve  and    Judge  Tap- 
ping   Reeve — Rev.    Simon     Horton — His    education    at 
Yale — His   Ministry   in    Newtown,  L.  I.  and  elsewhere — 
Rev.  Azariah  Horton — His  education  at  Yale — Mission- 
ary to  the  Indians — His  mother  Mary  (Tuthill)  Horton 
and  her  family — His  relations  to  the  Edinburgh  "  Socie- 
ty for    Propagating    Christian    Knowledge  "   -  Extracts 
from    the    Minutes  of  this  Society — His  Journals — His 
preparation  ot  the  Indians  for  the   Rev.   David  Brainerd 
at   Easton,    Pa. —  His    complaints    against     "  the     Sepa- 
rates " — He  becomes  the  first  Pastor  of  Madison,  N.  ). — 
His  death — His  grave  and  epitaph — His    descendants — 
Judge    Thomas    Youngs — His    education    at    Yale— His 
civil    and  judicial    services — His  death  —  His  ancestry  — 
His    marriage — His    home — His    large     possessions     of 
land — His  sou  Thomas — His  later  posterity — Rev.  David 
Youngs — His  education  at  Yale — His  pastorate  at  Brook- 
Haven — His  death — Migration  from  Southold — To  Ches- 
ter, N.  J.,  for  example — Historic  sketch    of  that   place — 
Public  worship  in  Orient— Mattituck  Church  organized, 
1715— Its  fust   pastor,  Rev.  Joseph    Lamb— His   removal 
to  Basking  Ridge,  N.  J.— His  relations  to  the  Hon.  Hen- 
ry      Southard — a      Long      Islander — to      Hon.     Samuel 
L.    Southard — Historical     sketch     of     Basking    Ridge- 


CONTENTS,  I  1 

Changes  produced  by  the  formation  of  the  Mattituck 
Church  and  public  worship  there  and  in  Orient — The 
Town  Meeting  in  1720  votes  to  divide  the  parish  lands 
that  each  Minister  may  improve  the  same  in  proportion 
according  to  the  first  purchase — Time  unknown  when 
the  Town  ceased  to  pay  the  Minister's  salary — No  means 
of  warming  the  church  in  winter — Isaac  Conklin  per- 
mitted in  1722  to  build  on  the  Town-lot  a  convenience- 
house,  in  which  persons  attending  public  worship  may 
warm  themselves  before  and  after  the  divine  service  in 
the  church — The  first  Meeting  House,  used  as  a  prison 
from  1683  to  1727,  ordered  to  be  sold — The  Courts  met 
in  Southold  and  Southampton  during  these  years  and 
afterwards  in  Riverhead.  .  .  .  Page  249  282 


PART  IV.— 1736-1740. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey  moves  to  Dosoris — Descrip- 
tion of  that  place — His  Ministry  for  twenty  years  while 
living  there — He  preaches  at  his  own  house — His  gener- 
ous hospitality — He  supplies  Hempstead — His  gratui- 
tous services — His  devotion  to  his  sacred  duties — His 
death,  August  15,  1756 — His  character  and  attainments — 
His  style  of  preaching — His  conspicuous  virtues — His 
excellence  in  all  the  relations  of  home  life  and  of  socie- 
ty— Visit  to  his  former  home — Part  of  his  residence  now 
standing — Place  of  his  burial  with  his  father  and  many 
of  his  kindred — Inscription  on  his  tomb-stone — Geneal- 
ogy of  his  descendants — Many  of  them  greatly  distin- 
guished— His  son,  M.  T.  Woolsey — His  grand-son,  M.  L. 
Woolsey — Letter  from  Henry  Lloyd  relating  to  the  mar- 


12  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLt). 

riages  of  John  Lloyd  and  Sarah  Woolsey — M.  T.  Wool- 
sey's  daughter  Rebekah  marries  James  Hillhouse — 
James  Hillhouse  and  his  descendants — M.  L.  Woolsey's 
services  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  thereafter — His 
marriage',  and  connections  thereby — His  son  M.  T. 
Woolsey  in  the  U.  S.  Navy — Our  third  Pastor's  second 
son,  Benjamin — His  education  at  Yale — His  marriages — 
His  children — Their  connections  and  posterity — Rev. 
Timothy  Dwight,  D.  D.,  President  of  Yale  College — 
William  W.  Woolsey — His  daughter  Elizabeth,  mother 
of  Major  Theodore  Winthrop — His  son  John  M.  Wool- 
sey, father  of  Sarah  Chauncey  Woolsey,  "  Susan  Cool- 
idge  " — Our  third  pastor's  great  grandson,  Theodore 
Dwight  Woolsey,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, son  of  W.  W.  Woolsey — President  Woolsey's  son 
Theodore  S.  Woolsey,  Professor  of  International  Law  in 
Yale  College — Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey's  granddaughter 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Benjamin,  marries  William  Dun- 
lap,  the  artist — Other  descendants  in  the  female  lines, 
Lt.  Gov.  John  Broome  ,  Chancellor  William  T.  McCoun, 
Rear  Admiral  S.  L.  Breese  ;  Hon.  Sidney  Breese,  Chief 
Justice  of  Illinois,  U.  S.  Senator;  Sarah  Elizabeth  Gris- 
wold,  wife  of  Prof.  Morse,  Inventor  of  the  Telegraph  ; 
Arthur  Breese,  U.  S.  Navy  ;  Mary  Welles  Davenport, 
wife  of  James  Boorman  ;  George  Welles  McClure,  U.  S. 
Army  ;  Henry  Welles,  Judge  of  N.  Y.  Supreme  Court  ; 
Abigail  Woolsey  Welles,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  G. 
Ludlowand  mother  of  the  well  known  authors  Fitszhugh 
Ludlow  and  Helen  W.  Ludlow — Rev.  James  Davenport 
becomes  Pastor  of  Southold  after  Mr.  Woolsey's  resig- 
nation— His  ancestry — His  birth  in  Stamford,  Conn. — 
His  education  at  Yale — His  studies  for  the  Ministry — 
His  ill  health — His  Ministry  in  Southold,  1738-1739 — His 
call  in  1738  to  Maidenhead  and  Hopewell,  N.  f. —  His 
preference  for  Southold — His  remarkable  career  in  the 
erratic  period  of  his  Ministry — His  excellent  character 


CONTENTS.  1 3 

in  his  latest  years — His  death  in  Hopewell,  N.  J. — Visit 
to  the  place  of  his  burial — Description  of  the  scene — 
Inscription  on  his  tomb-stone — Grave  of  his  wife — In- 
scription on  her  tomb-stone — Their  children — Ministry 
of  his  son,  the  Rev.  John  Davenport — Southold's  civil 
relations  in  the  later  periods  of  its  First  Century — Gov- 
ernors of  the  Province — Members  of  the  Assembly  from 
Suffolk — The  County  Judges — The  County  Surrogates — 
The  County  Sheriffs — The  County  Clerks — Shelter  Isl- 
and ceases  in  1730  to  continue  a  part  of  Southold  Town — 
Names  of  its  twenty  voters — Meeting  House  built  on 
Shelter  Island  in  1733  for  a  Presbyterian  Church — The 
congregation  incorporated  April  26,  1785 — Names  of  the 
Trustees — The  church  organized  in  1808 — Brindley  Syl- 
vester of  Shelter  Island — 1  lis  Chaplain,  William  Adams — 
Mr.  Sylvester's  dwelling,  built  in  1737,  now  the  summer 
residence  of  Prof.  E.  N.  Horsford — Mrs.  Horsford's  kin- 
dred—  Purchases  on  the  Island  by  William  Nicholl  and 
George  Havens — The  Supervisorship  becomes  in  1694 
the  chief  civil  office  of  the  Towns  in  the  State  of  New 
York — Names  of  Southold's  Supervisors  in  the  last 
half  of  its  First  Century — Condition  and  character  of 
the  people  at  the  close  of  the  First  Century  of  the 
Town.  .  ....  Page  285  327 


PART  I. 

PERIOD  OF   THE  MINISTRY  OF   THE 
REV.  JOHN  YOUNdS. 

1640-1672. 


CHAPTER  I. 

There  is  a  peculiar  attraction  which  draws 
the  thoughts  and  affections  of  men  to  the 
sources  of  any  stream,  that  having  continued 
to  flow  from  age  to  age,  still  spreads  its  be- 
nign influences  far  and  wide,  with  ever-in- 
creasing volume  and  usefulness.  And  the  ex- 
plorations of  the  Nile  or  the  Amazon  are  not 
more  charming  to  some  minds  than  the  inves- 
tigation of  the  places,  conditions,  circum- 
stances and  causes  of  the  fountains  and  cur- 
rents of  those  historic  movements  which  have 
contributed  to  shape  the  destiny  and  promote 
the  welfare  of  our  country  and  our  race. 


1 8  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

The  origin,  direction  and  character  of  the 
smallest  streams  are  full  of  interest  to  every 
man  who  would  thoroughly  understand  the 
life  and  wealth  which  the  broader  and  deeper 
river  of  our  national  and  Christian  history  now 
bears  and  carries  forward  upon  its  ample  and 
generous  bosom. 

It  may  be  superfluous  to  remark,  that  the 
history  of  permanent  Christian  institutions,  in 
this  country,  before  the  close  of  a  third  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  presents  only 


"  The  baby  figures  of  the  giant  mass 
Of  things  to  come  at  large." 


It  is  at  this  point  that  we  come  upon  a  re- 
cord which  directly  pertains  to  the  early  his- 
tory of  Southold,  Long  Island.  It  is  in  these 
words : 

''The  examination  of  John  Yonge,  of  St. 
Margaretts,  Suff,  minister  aged  35  years  and 
Joan  his  wife  aged  34  yeares  with  6  children 
John,  Thomas,  Anne,  Rachel,  Marey  and  Jo- 
seph are  desirous  to  passe  fo  Salam  in  N 
England  to  inhabit 

"This  man  was  forbyden  passage  by  the 
commissioners  and  went  not  from  Yarmouth," 


JOHN    YOUNGS    MIGRATES.  19 

For  this  record  of  the  royal  Commissioners 
of  Emigration,  see  Massachusetts  Hist.  So- 
ciety's Col. — Fourth  Series,  vol.  i.,  page  101. 

This  is  a  record  of  1633,  if  the  record  cor- 
rectly gives  his  age  35  years,  and  if  he  \vas 
74  years  of  age  at  his  death  in  1672,  as  the  in- 
scription on  his  tombstone  relates.  But  in 
the  "  Indexes  of  Southold,"  by  Charles  B. 
Moore,  Esq.,  it  is  held,  that  Mr.  Youngs's  at- 
tempt to  emigrate  from  Yarmouth  occurred 
May  11,  1637,  as  stated  in  the  copy  of  the  Eng- 
lish Record  made  for  Mr.  Savage.  The  Com- 
missioners of  Emigration  were  appointed,  it 
is  believed,  in  1634.  See  the  New  York  Ge- 
nealogical and  Biographical  Record,  vol.  4,  p. 
1 6.  The  minister,  whose  passage  from  Yar- 
mouth to  Salem  the  Commissioners  forbade 
only  a  few  years  after  the  organization  of  the 
earliest  church  in  New  England,  seems  to 
have  had  no  desire  to  return  to  St.  Margaret's 
in  Suffolk. 

But  where  was  this  St.  Margaret's  ?  For 
there  were  more  than  one  St.  Margaret's  in 
Suffolk.  \Ye  should  perhaps  most  naturally 
refer  this  record  to  St.  Maro-aret's  of  Southolt 

o 

in  the  Hundred  of  Hoxne,  Suffolk.     The  name 


2O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

of  the  place  is  printed  Southold  in  Camden. 
In  Lewis's  Topographical  Dictionary  of  Eng- 
land, fifth  edition,  1842,  it  is  described  as  fol- 
lows:  "SOUTHOLT,  (S-r.  MARGARET)  a  par- 
ish in  the  union  and  hundred  of  Hoxne,  E. 
Division  of  the  County  of  Suffolk,  5  miles 
(S.  E.  by  S.)  from  Eye;  containing  211  in- 
habitants. The  living  is  a  perpetual  curacy, 
endowed  with  the  great  tithes,  and  annexed 
to  the  rectory  of  Worlingworth :  the  tithes 
have  been  commuted  to  a  rent-charge  of 
,£237.10.  A  school  is  supported  out  of  the 
rents  of  town  lands,  the  proceeds  of  which, 
amounting  to  about  £100  per  annum,  are  ap- 
plied to  the  repairs  of  the  church,  and  to  the 
general  purposes  of  the  parish."  Investiga- 
tion seems  to  show,  that  Mr.  Youngs  never 
had  charge  of  this  church  and  parish.  In  re- 
ply to  a  letter  making  inquiry  as  to  Mr. 
Youngs's  incumbency  of  this  St.  Margaret's, 
previous  to  his  emigration  to  this  country,  the 
Reverend  Rector  of  Worlingworth  most  cour- 
teously gave  the  following  evidence,  that  Mr. 
Youngs  was  not  at  any  time  during  the  sev- 
enteenth century  an  incumbent  of  that  parish  : 


SOUTHOLT,  SUFFOLK.  21 

"  Worlingworth  Reclory,        ^ 

Wickham  Market, 
SUFFOLK,  February,  18,  1879.3 
DEAR  SIR  : — I  have  been  waiting  for  an  an- 
swer, which  I    enclose,   from    the    Bishop    of 
Norwich's  Registrar  (Mr.   Bonsly)   as  to  the 
names  of  the  Incumbents   at    the    time   you 
mention.     I    am    sorry  to  say  Mr.    Youngs's 
name  does  not  appear.     Yet  St.    Margaret's 
and    Southolt — spelt  in  Cainden   Southold— 
are  certainly  curious  coincidences  to  say  the 
least.     Trusting  you  will  excuse  my  long  de- 
lay, I  am,  Dear  Sir,  respectfully, 

FRED.  FRENCH, 

Reclor  of  Worlingworth  and  Southolt,  Suffolk. 
To  the  Rev.  Epher  Whitaker, 

Southold,  Suffolk  Co., 

New  York,  U.  S.  A." 

The  Rev.  Reclor's  letter  from  the  Rev.  W. 
T.  Bonsly,  the  Registrar  of  the  Diocese  of 
Norwich,  is  this  : 

"  Diocesan  Registry,  NORWICH,       ) 
17  February,  1879.  j 

DEAR  SIR  : — The  question  in  your  letter  of 
the  4th  inst.  whether  the  Rev.  John  Youngs 
was  Reclor  of  Southold  or  South  (w)  old 

is    easily    answered    in 
the  negative. 

I  have  referred  to  Dr.  Tanner's  list  of  In- 
cumbents of  Worlingworth  with  Southolt.  It 
does  not  contain  the  name  of  John  Young. 


22  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

The  Incumbents,  mentioned  by  him,  in  the 
i;th  century,  are 

Miles  Spencer 
1623   Philip  Tynck 

Tickle  turned  out  1643. 
1 66 1    Hugh  Roberts 
1666  John  Ward 
1673  Thos.  Colman. 
I  return  Mr.  Whitaker's  letter. 

Yours  faithfully, 

W.  T.  Boxsr.v. 
The  Revd.  V.  French." 

There  is  another  St.  Margaret's  in  Suffolk 
in  the  Hundred  of  \Yangford.  It  is  about 
midway  between  Halesworth  and  Bungay,  and 
some  six  miles  from  each.  It  is  St.  Marga- 
ret's Ilketshall.  But  nothing  has  been  found 
to  show  that  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  was  ever 
the  minister  of  that  place.  Thomas  Young, 
the  teacher  of  John  Milton,  was  from  1630  to 
1655  the  rector  of  Stow-Market,  a  large  bor- 
ough and  polling  place  in  the  central  part  of 
Suffolk  County,  on  the  line  of  the  railroad 
from  London  by  way  of  Ipswich  and  Norwich 
to  Yarmouth.  It  is  most  likely  that  our  first 
pastor  was  connected  in  some  way  with  St. 
Margaret's  in  the  village  of  Reydon,  near  the 
sea-coast,  and  in  the  Hundred  of  Blything. 


SOUTHWOLD,  SUFFOLK.  23 

Wangford  is  on  the  great  post-road  between 
Ipswich  and  Yarmouth,  and  Southwold  is  on 
the  shore  of  the  sea  about  five  or  six  miles 
southeast  of  Wangford.  Reydon  is  about  mid- 
way between  these  two  places.  An  important 
letter  recently  sent  from  New  Jersey  and  plain- 
ly directed  to  Southold,  Suffolk  County,  Long 
Island,  reached  its  destination  in  twenty-one 
days  with  the  postmarks  of  both  Wangford 
and  Southwold,  England,  upon  it.  In  some 
books  and  maps  published  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  found  in  the  Presbyterian  His- 
torical Society's  Library  in  Philadelphia,  South- 
wold, England,  is  printed  "  Southould  "  and 
"  Sowolde."  On  an  eminence  in  Southwold, 
so  as  to  look  out  upon  the  North  Sea,  a  fine 
church  edifice  was  built  in  1460  and  dedicated 
to  St.  Edmunds.  This  was  a  chapel  annexed 
to  the  vicarage  of  Reydon,  and  the  curate  of 
this  chapel  was  appointed  by  the  vicar  of 
Reydon,  who  from  161  i  to  his  death  in  1626 
was  the  Rev.  Christopher  Young.  His  suc- 
cessor, appointed  the  next  year,  was  the  Rev. 
John  Goldsmith.  From  this  neighborhood  it 
is  highly  probable  that  Christopher  Youngs 
of  Massachusetts  came  to  America,  and  to  this 
St.  Margaret's  of  Reydon  it  may  be  supposed 


24  HISTORY    OF    SOUTIIOLD. 

that  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  belonged  when  he 
purposed  to  cross  the  ocean  for  Salem  in  New 
England  to  inhabit.  He  may  have  ministered 
in  Southwold  as  a  curate  of  the  vicar  of  St. 
Margaret's  in  Reydon.  Edward  Yonges,  a 
vicar,  was  in  Southwold  in  1616.  It  is  stated 
by  Charles  B.  Moore,  Esq.,  that  our  first  pas- 
tor "  had  the  official  record  of  being  forbid- 
den passage  in  the  Mary  Ann  of  Yarmouth — 
the  vessel  in  which  he  proposed  to  sail  in  1637 
from  Yarmouth  to  Salem,  with  Mrs.  Ames, 
and  with  his  own  wife  and  children.  Some  ot 
his  parishioners  came  in  that  vessel,  and  prob- 
ably his  family,  for  they  soon  arrived."  He 
may  have  made  the  voyage  by  way  of  Hol- 
land. "  He  appeared  at  Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, at  the  same  time  with  '  the  widow  Ames' 
and  her  sons.  Lands  were  voted  to  be  given 
to  him  if  he  would  stay  at  Salem,  and  also  to 
her,  and  to  the  widow  Paine,  who,  with  others, 
came  over  in  the  Mary  Ann  when  he  wras 
stopped.  Mr.  Youngs  did  not  stay  long  at 
Salem,  but  appeared  soon  at  Xew  Haven  with 
Mr.  Davenport."  See  the  Xew  York  Genea- 
logical and  Biographical  Record,  vol.  3,  p. 
164,  vol.  4,  p.  1 6.  These  facts  make  it  high- 
ly probable  that  our  first  pastor  was  a  kins- 


HINGHAM,  NORFOLK.  25 

man  of  the  vicar  of  Reydon,  and  that  our  Pu- 
ritan town,  the  oldest  on  Long  Island,  was 
named  Southold  on  account  of  his  connection 
with  Southould  or  Southwold  in  England. 
The  name  of  the  county  also  was  taken  of 
course  from  Suffolk  County,  England.  Un- 
doubtedly the  various  modes  of  writing  the 
names  as  Southold,  Southhold,  Southould, 
Southwold,  Sowolde,  had  far  more  relation  to 
the  written  than  to  the  oral  use. 

After  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  was  forbidden 
to  sail  for  New  England  from  Yarmouth  just 
at  the  point  where  England  thrusts  the  coast- 
line deepest  into  the  German  ocean,  perhaps 
he  retired  a  day's  journey  direc~tly  inland  to- 
ward the  west,  and  became  the  pastor  of  a 
church  at  Hingham,  in  Norfolk  County,  a  par- 
ish some  ten  or  twelve  miles  nearly  west  of 
the  city  of  Norwich. 

Trumbull,  in  his  History  of  Connecticut, 
says  that  "  New  Haven,  or  their  confederates, 
purchased  and  settled  Yennycock,  [Southold] 
on  Long  Island.  Mr.  John  Youngs,  who  had 
been  a  minister  at  Hingham,  in  England, 
came  over  with  a  considerable  part  of  his 
church,  and  here  fixed  his  residence.  He 
gathered  his  church  anew  on  the  2ist  of  Octo- 

3 


26  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

ber,  [1640,]  and  the  planters  united  them- 
selves with  New  Haven."  "  Some  of  the 
principal  men  were  the  Reverend  Mr.  Youngs. 
Mr.  William  Wells,  Mr.  Barnabas  Horton, 
Thomas  Mapes,  John  Tuthill,  and  IVlatthias 
Corwin." 

There  is  no  trace  ot  evidence  known  to  me 
that  all  of  these  men  ever  resided  in  New 
Haven. 

Thompson,  in  his  History  of  Long  Island, 
says  that  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  "  organized  a 
church  at  New  Haven,  and  they,  with  others 
willing  to  accompany  them,  commenced  the 
settlement  of  this  town."  But  Thompson 
gives  no  authority  for  this  statement,  and  it  is 
manifestly  unhistorical.  It  was  "  here "  at 
Southold  that  "  he  gathered  his  church 
anew;"  for  it  was  "here"  at  Southold  that 
he  "  fixed  his  residence  ;"  and  the  church 
which  he  gathered  anew  was  not  a  church  or- 
ganized in  New  Haven  ;  but  it  was  organized 
in  Southold  where  he  fixed  his  residence. 

Mr.  Augustus  Griffin,  in  his  "  journal," 
tells  a  lively  story  of  the  settlement  of  South- 
old — how  a  company  ot  thirteen  men  with 
their  families  left  England  about  the  year 
1638  ;  after  some  weeks,  arrived  at  New  Ha- 


A    FANCIFUL    STORY.  2J 

ven,  "  then  a  small  village  in  the  then  colony 
of  Connecticut ;"  how  they  remained  there 
about  two  years,  until  early  in  the  autumn  of 
1640,  when  they  all  embarked  in  a  vessel 
with  their  families,  effects,  and  provisions 
enough  to  supply  them  for  the  coming  win- 
ter, aad  sailed  to  Southold  and  made  their 
dwellings  here.  The  names  of  these  thirteen 
men,  Mr.  Griffin  says,  were  Rev.  John  Youngs. 
Barnabas  Horton,  William  Wells,  Esq.,  Peter 
Hallock,  John  Tuthill,  Richard  Terry,  Thomas 
Mapes,  Matthias  Corwin,  Robert  Akerly,  Ja- 
cob Corey,  John  Conkline,  Isaac  Arnold,  John 
Budd.  "These  men,"  he  acids,  "with  their 
families,  were  the  first  of  any  civilized  nation 
that  had  made  the  attempt  to  settle  on  the 
east  end  of  Long  Island.  This  took  place  in 
the  early  part  of  September  1640." 

The  venerable  man  who  wrote  the  above 
when  he  was  ninety  years  of  age,  was  genial, 
kindly,  and  imaginative,  and  he  drew  largely 
for  his  facts  upon  his  fancy  in  making  the  sketch 
of  the  settlement  and  early  history  of  South- 
old.  No  company  of  thirteen  men,  including 
these  whose  names  he  gives,  ever  crossed  the 
ocean  in  the  same  vessel,  or  lived  two  years 
together  in  New  Haven,  or  sailed  to  Southold 


28  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD; 

either  at  the  time  or  in  the  manner  that  he 
describes  in  the  first  pages  of  his  romantic 
narrative ;  nor  was  New  Haven  at  that  time 
in  the  then  colony  of  Connecticut.  His 
"  thirteen  adventurers"  include  men  of  differ- 
ent generations,  and  some  of  them  were 
scarcely  born  in  1640.  There  is  only  a  tradi- 
tion that  one  of  them  was  ever  in  Southold  at 
any  time. 

These  facls  are  now  well  known  in  respecl: 
to  therrij  namely  : 

William  Wells,  Esq.,  son  of  an  eminent 
prebendary  of  the  cathedral  of  Norwich,  who 
was  also  the  Reclor  of  the  most  magnificent 
and  splendid  church  in  that  city,  left  England, 
it  is  believed,  June  iQth,  1635,  in  the  same 
vessel  with  John  Bayley,  another  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Southold,  who  in  1664  became  the 
first  of  three  purchasers  of  the  Indian  title  of 
Elizabeth,  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Wells  probably 
came  here  by  way  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts, 
and  not  from  New  Haven.  See  Moore's 
"  Indexes  of  Southold  "  and  Hayes's  "  Wil- 
liam Wells  of  Southold." 

Barnabas  Horton  was  not  a  native  of 
Hingham  in  Norfolkshire ;  but  of  Mouseley 
in  Leicestershire.  There  is  no  evidence  that 


ftAKNABAS    HORTO.\.  £9 

he  ever  was  in  Hingham,  England,  or  in  New 
Haven,  in  this  country,  before  he  settled  at 
Southold.  He  may  have  dwelt  in  Hampton, 
Massachusetts,  previous  to  1640.  See  the 
Horton  Genealogy,  by  G.  F.  Horton,  M.  D. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  mas- 
sive slab  of  blue  slate,  imported  from  Mouse- 
ley,  that  rests  upon  the  walls  which  surround 
his  grave  : 

"  Here  lieth  buried  the  body  of  Mr,  Barna- 
bas Horton,  who  was  born  at  Mousely,  Lei- 
cestershire,, old  England,  and  died  at  South- 
old,  on  the  i3th  day  of  July,  1680,  aged  80 
years. 

Here  lies  my  body  tombed  in  dust 

'  Till  Christ  shall  come  to  raise  it  with  the  just  ; 

My  soul  ascended  to  the  throne  of  God, 

Where  with  sweet  Jesus  now  I  make  abode  : 

Then  hasten  after  me,  my  dearest  wife, 

To  be  partaker  of  this  blessed  life  ; 

And  you,  dear  children  all,  follow  the  Lord, 

Hear  and  obey  His  public  sacred  word  ; 

And  in  your  houses  call  upon  His  name, 

For  oft  have  I  advised  you  to  the  same: 

Then  God  will  bless  you  with  your  children  all, 

And  to  this  blessed  place  he  will  you  call. 


30  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLt), 

Peter  Hallock  was  probably  the  father  of 
William  Hallock,  and  may  have  come  to 
Southold  ;  but  there  is  only  traditional  evi- 
dence of  it.  William  Hallock,  who  died  on 
the  28th  day  of  September,  1684,  left  a  re~ 
cord,  property  and  posterity  here,  He 
wrote  his  name  Holyoake,  But  he  was  pro- 
bably the  ancestor  of  all  the  Hallocks  and 
Hallecks  in  this  country.  See  the  Records 
of  the  Town  of  Southold.  and  William  Hoi- 
yoake's  will  in  the  "  Hallock  Genealogy,"  by 
the  Rev.  William  A.  Hallock,  D.  D. 

John  Tuthill  may  have  come  to  this  place 
from  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  whence  came 
hither  Henry  Tuthill,  the  ancestor  of  all  the 
Tuthills  of  Southold.  Henry  Tuthill  settled 
in  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  in  1637,  where 
he  had  land  which  he  afterwards  sold,  proba- 
bly because  of  his  removal  to  Southold.  His 
wife  survived  him,  and  afterwards  became  the 
wife  of  William  Wells,  Esq.  See  Town  Re- 
cords, Book  A,  folio  105,  and  Tuthill  "  Fam- 
ily Meeting,"  pages  31 — 33,  printed  at  Sag 
Harbor,  1867.  See  also  New  Haven  Colony 
Records,  2,  folio  97. 

Richard  Terry  sailed  from  England  with  his 
elder  brothers  Thomas  and  Robert  in  1635. 


TERRY,   FURRIER,  MAPKS.  3  t 

Both  Thomas  and  Richard  subsequently  made 
their  homes  in  Southold,  But  in  1640  Rich- 
ard was  negotiating  with  Capt.  Howe,  of  Lynn, 
Massachusetts,  for  a  settlement  on  Long  Is- 
land, and  Capt.  Howe*  at  that  time,  was  plan- 
ning to  settle  Southampton,  See  Moore's 
"  Indexes  of  Southold"  and  George  R.  How- 
ell's  "  History  of  Southampton,  Long  Island." 
Thomas  Mapes  was  here  as  early  as  1657, 
He  was  a  son-in-law  of  William  Furrier,  who 
was  settled  in  Southold  before  any  record 
was  made  to  show  the  presence  and  interests 
of  Mr.  Mapes  in  this  place.  William  Furrier 
was  of  Olney,  Buckinghamshire,  the  parish 
which  Newton  and  Cowper  have  made  fa- 
mous. He  sailed  from  England  with  his  wife 
and  three  children  on  the  first  day  of  April 
1635,  in  the  "  Hopewell,"  for  New  England. 
John  Cooper  and  Edmund  Farrington  of  the 
same  village  were  his  companions  on  the 
voyage.  John  Cooper  settled  in  Boston, 
where  he  became  a  "  freeman,"  that  is,  a 
voter,  in  1636.  He  afterwards  removed  to 
New  Haven  and  subsequently  became  one  ot 
the  foremost,  wealthy  and  influential  persons 
in  Southampton,  Long  Island.  He  was  in 
Southold,  with  his  home  in  Southampton,  in 


3~2  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOU).- 

1673.  Edmund  Farrington  settled  in  Lynn, 
and  afterward  became  interested  in  the  plant- 
ing of  Southampton,  L.  1.  Thomas  Mapes, 
who  seems  to  have  come  to  Southold  later 
than  these  Olney  men  came  to  Long  Island, 
made  his  will  in  1686.  It  was  proved  the 
next  year.  See  Town  Records  of  Southold. 
Documents  relating-  to  the  Colonial  History 
of  New  York.  Moore's  Indexes.  Howell's 
Southampton.  Hatfield's  Elizabeth. 

Matthias  Corwin  settled  in  Ipswich,  Massa- 
chusetts, before  he  made  his  home  in  South- 
old.  He  received  a  grant  of  land — probably 
a  second  grant — in  that  place  in  1634.  It  is 
evident  that  he  came  to  Southold  by  way  of 
New  Haven,  and  ma}'  have  been  in  Southold 
soon  after  the  purchase  of  the  place  by  the 
authorities  of  Xew  Haven.  The  excellent 
"  Corwin  Genealogy."  by  the  Rev.  Edward 
Tanjore  Corwin,  D.  I).,  refers  to  the  proper 
authorities,  and  says  on  page  161,  that  "  the 
record  at  Ipswich  notes  that  he  emigrated 
thence  to  Long  Island."  The  chapel  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  just  across  the  main 
street  from  the  Eirst  Church  of  Southold,  now 
stands  on  his  house-home  lot. 

Robert  Akerly  probably  came  from  Stain- 


COREY*  CONKLtN;  33 

ford  or  New  Haven  to  Southold  early  in  the 
history  of  this  place ;  but  the  precise  year  is 
unknown. 

Jacob  Corey  may  have  been  a  native  of 
Southold ;  for  he  died  here  in  1706,  more 
than  sixty-five  years  after  the  Rev.  John 
Youngs  gathered  his  church  anew  in  this 
place  ;  and  so  far  as  known,  his  name  appear- 
ed for  the  first  time  upon  the  record  here  in 
l667>  when  he  received  a  deed  for  a  house 
and  lot  from  John  Tuthill.  He  belonged  to 
the  second  generation  here.  See  Town 
Records* 

John  Conklin  doubtless  came  to  Southold 
from  Salem,  Massachusetts,  where  he  re- 
ceived, as  one  of  its  inhabitants,  a  grant  of 
four  acres  of  land  on  the  3Oth  day  of  May 
1649.  Before  1655  he  removed  to  Southold 
and  made  his  home  here,  apparently  in  the 
part  of  the  town  called  Hashamommuck, 
though  he  seems  to  have  retained  his  lands  in 
Salem  ;  for  in  1683  he  gave  his  son  John  a 
deed  for  them.  Previous  to  this  elate,  he  had 
removed  to  Huntington,  L.  1.  See  Town 
Records. 

Isaac  Arnold  was  born  about  the  time  ot 
the  settlement  of  Southold,  and  died  more 


34  HISTORY  OF  SOITHOLD. 

than  sixty-six  years  after  the  organization  of 
our  First  Church  here.  He  became  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  the  second  generation,  after 
the  Rev.  John  Youngs,  William  Wells,  Esq., 
Matthias  Convin,  Barnabas  Horton,  Thomas 
Moore,  Capt.  John  Underbill,  Barnabas 
Wines,  William  Furrier,  and  other  chief  men 
of  the  first  generation  had  died. 

John  Budd  was  in  New  Haven  in  1639, 
and  for  several  years  thereafter,  as  the  New 
Haven  Records  show  ;  and  most  probably  he 
continued  to  live  there  or  in  England  for  the 
next  fifteen  years.  He  was  in  the  Old 
country  in  1654.  On  his  return,  he  concern- 
ed himself  in  the  settlement  of  Setauket, 
Long  Island  ;  but  he  became  a  resident  ol 
Southold  prior  to  1657.  In  1658  he  had 
much  trouble  and  litigation  with  some  of  his 
neighbors.  The  ample  records  of  this  year 
show  that  most  precious  interests  and  deep 
feelings  were  touched  by  a  protracted  investi- 
gation under  the  provisions  of  this  Town-law 
respecting  slander  : 

"  Every  such  person  as  inhabiteth  among 
us  and  shall  be  found  to  bee  a  common  tale 
bearer,  tatler,  or  busie  bodie  in  idle  matters, 
forger  or  coyner  of  reports,  untruths  or  lyes, 


JOHN    BUDD.  35 

or  frequently  using  provokeinge,  rude,  unsav- 
orle  words,  tending  to  disturb  the  peace,  shall 
forfeit  and  pay  for  every  default  10  s." 

It  was  very  likely  inconveniences  arising 
from  the  enforcement  of  this  law  against  one 
of  his  neighbors,  that  led  Mr.  Budd,  in  1659,  to 
sell  his  house-home  lot  in  this  Town,  and  re- 
move from  the  place  to  the  main  land.  In 
1661,  he  purchased  land  of  the  Indians  in 
Westchester  county,  New  York,  where  he  set- 
tled, and  continued  to  reside  until  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  as  early  as  1670. 
See  Town  Records,  New  Haven  Records, 
Bolton's  History  ot  Westchester  Count}', 
Moore's  Indexes,  etc. 

The  facts  on  record  in  respect  to  these 
"  thirteen  men  "  most  thoroughly  prove,  that 
there  is  no  historic  foundation  whatever  for 
the  story  that  they  came  here  together  in  Sep- 
tember 1640  and  settled  this  Town.  The 
facts  prove  that  they  never  came  from  Kng- 
land  in  company  ;  that  they  never  were  to- 
gether in  New  Haven,  either  in  1640,  or  be- 
fore or  after  this  date  ;  that  the)-  never  came 
to  Southolcl  in  the  same  vessel  and  at  the 
same  time  ;  that  some  of  them  were  elsewhere 
for  several  years  after  the  settlement ;  that 


36  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

others  of  them  belonged  to  the  second  gen- 
eration of  its  inhabitants  ;  that  the  greater  part 
of  them  were  never  members  of  the  Rev.  John 
Youngs's  church  in  Hingham,  England ;  that 
they  were  never  organized  as  a  church  in  New 
Haven ;  that  the  story  of  the  settlement  to 
which  Griffin's  "Journal"  has  given  currency 
is  a  fiction. 

Thompson  says  that  the  Rev.  John  Youngs 
"came  to  New  Haven  in  1638;"  and  this 
statement  is  likely  to  hold  good.  He  also 
states,  that  "  the  Governor  of  New  Haven 
Theophilus  Eaton,  and  the  authorities  there 
had  not  only  aided  the  first  settlers  in  their 
negotiations  about  the  purchase  of  the  soil, 
but  actually  took  the  conveyance  in  their  own 
names,  and  exercised  a  limited  control  over 
the  territory  for  several  years."  These  state- 
ments rest  immovably  on  the  New  Haven  Re- 
cords. 

On  the  1 8th  of  June,  1639,  Matthew  Sun- 
derland  leased  of  James  Farrett  lands  which 
are  in  the  town  of  Southold.  On  the  4th  of 
September,  1639,  he  took  a  receipt  for  rent 
paid  thereon.  The  next  year  he  improved  the 
land  and  paid  rent  thereon  a  second  time, 
namely,  September  gth,  1 640.  After  his  death, 


LEASE,    JUNE    1 8,    1639.  37 

his  widow  retained  posession  of  his  improve- 
ments ;  and  in  1649,  having  previously  mar- 
ried William  Salmon,  her  second  husband  and 
her  children  took  the  personal  property  and 
claimed  the  land  under  the  lease  from  Farrett. 
See  the  Town  Records.  Farrett's  first  trans- 
action with  the  Southampton  people  was  a 
year  later  than  with  Sunderland — one  being 
June  1 8,  1639,  and  the  other  being  June  12, 
1640. 

Richard  Jackson  was  appointed  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 2Oth  November,  1637,  on  a  commit- 
tee to  lay  off  Sudbury.  In  March,  1638,  an- 
other man,  named  Oliver,  was  appointed  in 
his  place.  On  the  i5th  of  August,  1640,  he 
obtained  a  deed  from  Lord  Sterling's  agent, 
James  Farrett,  for  lands  which  he  had  pur- 
chased in  this  Town.  This  was  earlier  than 
Stirling's  deed  to  Southampton.  On  the  25th 
of  the  October,  1640,  he  sold  this  land  with 
his  house  upon  it  and  other  improvements  to 
Thomas  Weatherby,  mariner,  for  ^15  sterling. 
Weatherby  subsequently  sold  it  to  Stephen 
Goodyear,  the  eminent  merchant  of  New  Ha- 
ven ;  and  Goodyear  with  title  from  Weather- 
by,  Jackson,  and  the  Indians,  sold  it  to  John 
Ketcham,  by  whom  it  was  conveyed  to  Thomas 

4 


38  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Moore,  in  the  possession  of  whose  descendants 
and  heirs  it  remains,  it  is  believed,  until  this 
day.  See  Goodyear's  deed  in  the  Town  Re- 
cords. 

This  sale  of  his  land  with  his  dwelling  house 
and  other  improvements  by  Jackson  was  made 
four  days  after  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  gather- 
ed his  church  anew  in  this  place. 

It  is  not  known  how  many  other  settlers 
were  here  in  1639  and  the  following  year,  be- 
fore the  church  was  organized  on  the  2ist  of 
October  1640.  In  the  planting  of  the  adjoin- 
ing Town  of  Southampton,  it  would  appear 
that  some  of  the  men  at  least  were  on  the  soil 
several  months  before  the  formation  of  their 
church  in  November,  a  month  later  than  the 
organization  of  the  First  Church  of  Southold. 
The  church  and  town  here  were  in  the  closest 
relations  with  New  Haven  ;  and  the  first  set- 
tlers of  the  latter  place  landed  on  the  site 
chosen  for  their  plantation  the  i5th  of  April, 
1638,  (O.  S.)  ;  but  it  was  not  until  August 
2ist,  1639,  that  the  church  was  fully  organized. 
See  its  Manual  for  the  year  1867.  The  anal- 
ogy of  the  neighboring  settlements,  the  known 
facts,  and  the  nature  of  the  case,  leave  no 
doubt,  that  some  of  the  early  settlers  of  South- 


INDIAN    TITLES.  39 

old  were  here  many  months,  and  perhaps  two 
years  before  the  organization  of  the  church 
on  the  2  ist  of  October,  1640.  We  trace  them 
on  their  way  hither  through  other  parts  of  New 
England,  from  1635  onward.  Some  of  them 
removed  from  other  places  during  the  years 
1638  and  1639,  and  probably  came  here  about 
the  same  time. 

It  was  not  the  custom  of  the  early  settlers 
of  New  England  and  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try to  purchase  the  Indian  title  and  afterwards 
begin  the  settlement.  On  the  contrary,  the 
settlements  were  first  begun,  and  subsequent- 
ly the  settlers  engaged  in  trade  with  the  In- 
dians ;  and  when  it  became  convenient,  they 
purchased  the  Indian  title  to  the  land  which 
they  had  already  occupied.  So  it  was  done 
at  Plymouth,  and  Wethersfield,  and  Hartford, 
and  New  Haven,  and  New  York,  and  many 
other  places.  So  it  was  done  on  Long  Island 
at  Southolcl,  Southampton,  Jamaica,  and  else- 
where. The  purchase  of  Southold  was  made 
of  the  Indians  here  as  early  at  least  as  August, 
1640,  and  it  is  simply  preposterous  to  sup- 
pose that  the  earliest  settlers,  the  Rev.  John 
Youngs  and  his  companions,  came  here  and 
begun  the  settlement  of  the  Town  at  a 


4O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

later  date.  They  were  doubtless  here  several 
months,  and  very  likely  a  whole  year,  before 
the  purchase  of  the  Indian  title  in  August, 
1640.  There  seems  to  be  all-sufficient  evi- 
dence to  support  the  oft-repeated  historic 
statement,  which  is  made  in  the  words  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Prime's  History,  that  "  Southold  was 
the  first  town  settled  on  Lon<£  Island." 

o 

Mr.  George  R.  Howell,  the  historian  of 
Southampton,  has  recently  presented  a  claim 
to  this  distinction  in  behalf  of  that  Town.  But 
the  claim  is  based  upon  the  unfounded  sup- 
position, that  there  were  no  settlers  in  the 
Town  of  Southold  previous  to  the  autumn  of 
1640,  about  the  time  of  the  organization  of 
the  church  in  October,  (which  the  Hon.  Silas 
Wood,  in  his  "Towns  of  Long  Island,"  seems 
erroneously  to  regard  as  the  settlement  of 
the  Town),  or  the  claim  is  put  forth  on  the 
ground  ot  an  imaginary  transfer  ot  an  imagin- 
ary church  or  company  of  men  from  New 
Haven  to  Southold,  as  stated  by  Griffin,  "  in 
the  early  part  of  September,  1640."  The 
truth  is,  that  the  settlement  here  was  so  old 
in  the  autumn  of  1640,  that  Richard  Jackson, 
who  had  cultivated  his  land  and  built  his 
house  and  other  improvements  here,  desired 


OLDEST    L.    I.    TOWN.  4] 

at  that  time  to  sell,  and  did  sell,  his  dwelling 
house,  and  all  his  other  improvements,  as  well 
as  his  land  within  this  Town,  only  four  days 
after  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  First 
Church  of  Southold. 

The  facls  show  that  this  Town  is  older  than 
Southampton  in  all  the  essential  and  import- 
ant tests  of  settlement,  namely  : 

1.  Southold  is  older  than  Southampton  by 
the  earlier  purchase  of  the  territory  from  the 
Indians. 

2.  Southold  is  older  than  Southampton  by 
the  earlier  renting  and  purchase  of  land  from 
English  owners,  and  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment thereof,  by  the  first  dwellers  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Town. 

3.  Southold  is  older  than  Southampton  by 
its  union  in  Civil  Government  with  the  Towns 
of  the  New  Haven  Jurisdiction  at  an  earlier 
date    than    the    union  of    Southampton    with 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut. 

4.  Southold  is  older  than  Southampton  by 
the  earlier  organization  of  its  First  Church  in 
an  age  when  the   political   and  the    religious 
life    and    institutions   of   the   people    were   so 
closely  interwoven. 

Thus    the    long-continued    historical    state- 


42  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

ment  remains  good,  that  "  Southold  was  the 
first  Town  settled  on  Long  Island."  It  may 
be  added,  that  in  the  year  1640  the  New 
Haven  Colony  made  a  large  purchase  of  ter- 
ritory on  both  sides  of  the  Delaware,  or  South 
river,  and  sent  thither  about  fifty  families. 
This  purchase  seems  to  have  been  made  after 
the  New  Haven  Jurisdiction  had  secured  pos- 
session of  Southold  on  Long  Island  across 
the  Sound  from  the  original  settlement.  See 
Trumbull's  History  of  Connecticut,  Vol.  I, 
p.  119. 

When  the  Town  Records  of  Southampton 
were  edited,  printed  and  published  a  few 
years  since,  the  Hon.  Henry  A.  Reeves,  a 
native  of  the  Town  of  Southampton  and  a 
resident  of  the  Town  of  Southold,  wrote  and 
published  in  his  paper,  the  Republican  Watch- 
man ot  Greenport,  the  conclusion  which  he 
had  formed  on  this  subject  after  an  examina- 
tion of  the  Records,  and  subsequently  also  to 
the  publication  ol  many  columns  at  different 
times  in  his  paper  tor  and  against  the  new 
claim  of  priority  of  settlement  put  forth  in 
behalf  of  his  native  Town.  He  said  :  "  Be- 
sides our  interest  in  this  volume  as  '  a  son  of 
the  soil.'  we  have  examined  it  with  some  care 


OLDER    THAN    SOUTHAMPTON.  43 

in  order  to  find  whatever  light  may  be  cast  by 
it  upon  the  mooted  question  of  priority  of 
settlement  as  between  the  towns  of  Southold 
and  Southampton,  but  fail  to  discover  any 
positive  or  very  satisfactory  circumstantial 
evidence  bearing  upon  the  point.  Certainly 
the  claim  recently  advanced  on  behalf  of  South- 
ampton, in  opposition  to  the  long  and  hereto- 
fore universally  accepted  tradition  (admitting 
that  it  is  not  established  upon  the  basis  of 
exact  historic  truth),  which  has  presented 
Southold  as  the  oldest  town  in  the  State  of 
New  York  settled  by  people  of  English  de- 
scent, cannot  be  supported  upon  mere  infer- 
ences and  conjectures.  The  earliest  writings 
in  the  Town  archives,  as  published  in  the  First 
Book  of  Records,  do  not  furnish  any  stronger 
or  other  proofs  of  priority  than  such  as  are 
strictly  inferential.  It  may  be  there  are  other 
grounds  on  which  Southold's  precedence  can 
be  disputed,  but  they  have  not  yet  been 
brought  to  our  notice." 

o 

When  Southold  became  a  part  of  the  Juris- 
diction of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  the  people 
and  government  of  that  plantation  sometimes 
called  this  Long  Island  Town  by  its  Indian 
name  Yennecock,  or  Yennecott,  and  some- 


44  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

times  by  its  English  name  Southold.  When 
the  people  of  Southold  were  about  to  build  a 
village  at  the  western  end  of  the  territory  of 
the  Town,  on  Wading  River,  they  voted  in 
Town  Meeting  that  it  should  be  called  West 

O 

Hold.     See  Town  Records,  Book  A. 

For  nearly  thirty  years  past  I  have  been 
carefully  making  a  list  ot  the  early  settlers, 
who  left  written  evidence,  (in  the  Town  Rec- 
ords ;  in  Deeds  conveying  lands,  or  other 
property  ;  in  Wills  ;  on  Tombstones,  or  other 
documents,)  that  they  were  full  grown  men 
here  within  the  life-time  of  the  first  pastor. 
Nearly  all  named  in  the  list  which  I  have 
made  were  not  only  residents  here,  but  also 
landowners.  In  the  words  of  the  Town  Pa- 
tent, they  were  "  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants." 
Of  course  there  were  many  who  left  no  writ- 
ten record  which  has  survived  them  and  come 
down  to  us.  But  the  life  which  they  lived 
here  has  gone  into  the  body  and  soul  of  those 
activities  and  endurances  that  have  formed 
the  history  and  the  character  of  this  place. 
Though  we  know  not  their  names,  we  never- 
theless enjoy  the  fruit  of  their  virtues,  and 
reap  the  harvest  of  their  toils.  The  very  fact 
that  they  are  unnamed  may  be  owing  to  their 


EARLY    SETTLERS. 


45 


superior  modesty  and  worth,  just  as  a  goodly 
number  of  women, — faithful  daughters,  wives 
and  mothers, — who  have  left  no  written  record 
here,  doubtless  surpassed  in  patience,  indus- 
try, virtue  and  piety  many  sons,  husbands  and 
fathers  whose  names  are  thus  known.  They 
shall  in  a  future  day  and  thenceforth  and  for- 
ever have  their  proper  and  honorable  meed 
when  the  names,  written  in  the  Book  of  Life, 
become  known  to  all  mankind. 

Here  is  the  list,  which   is  believed  to  be  ac- 
curate as  to  all  whom  it  includes  : 


Robert  Akerly, 
Isaac  Arnold, 
Thomas  Baker, 
John  Bayley, 
Thomas  Benedict, 
Richard  Benjamin, 
Simeon  Benjamin, 
John  Booth, 
Richard  Brown, 
Richard  Brown,  Jr., 
John  Budd, 
David  Carwithe, 
Henry  Case, 
Roger  Cheston, 


Richard  Clark, 
John  Conklin, 
John  Conklin,  Jr., 
Jacob  Conklin, 
Thomas  Cooper, 
John  Corey, 
Jacob  Corey, 
Abraham  Corey, 
Matthias  Corwin, 
John  Corwin, 
Theophilus  Corwin, 
William  Cramer, 
Caleb  Curtis, 
Thomas  Curtis, 


46 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 


Philemon  Dickerson, 
Peter  Dickerson, 
John  Dickerson, 
Thomas  Dimon, 
Nicholas  Edes, 
John  Elton, 
Matthias  Edwards, 
John  England, 
Jeffrey  Esty, 
William  Fanley, 
Benoni  Flint, 
John  Franklin, 
John  Frost, 
Charles  Glover, 
Samuel  Glover, 
Ralph  Goldsmith, 
John  Greete, 
Samuel  Grover, 
Simon  Grover, 
James  Haines, 
John  Haines, 
William  Hallock, 
Richard  Harrude, 
John  Herbert, 
John  Herbert,  Jr., 
James  Hildreth, 
Barnabas  Horton, 


Joseph  Horton, 
Benjamin  Horton, 
Caleb  Horton, 
Joshua  Horton, 
Jonas  Houldsworth, 
Richard  Howell, 
Thomas  Hutchinson, 
Richard  Jackson, 
Joseph  Jennings, 
William  Johnson, 
Jeffrey  Jones, 
John  Ketchum, 
John  King, 
Samuel  King, 
Thomas  Mapes, 
Thomas  Mapes,  Jr., 
Jeremiah  Meacham, 
Stephen  Metcalf, 
George  Miller, 
Thomas  Moore, 
Benjamin  Moore, 
Jonathan  Moon.-, 
Nathaniel  Moore, 
Francis  Nichols, 
Humphrey  Norton, 
Thomas  Osman, 
Isaac  Overton, 


EARLY    SETTLERS. 


47 


Peter  Paine, 
John  Paine, 
John  Peakin, 
Edward  Petty, 
William  Purrier, 
John  Racket, 
James  Reeve, 
Thomas  Rider, 
John  Rider, 
William  Robinson, 
Evan  Salisbury, 
William  Salmon, 
John  Salmon, 
Thomas  Scudder, 
Henry  Scudder, 
Joshua  Silvester, 
Richard  Skidmore, 
Arthur  Smyth, 
Nathaniel  Smyth, 
Robert  Smyth, 
Thomas  Stevenson, 
Edward  Stevenson, 
Matthew  Sunderland, 
John  Swezey, 
Thomas  Terrell. 
Richard  Terry, 
Thomas  Terry, 


John  Terry, 
Daniel  Terry, 
Edward  Treadwell, 
John  Tucker, 
Charles  Tucker, 
Henry  Tuthill, 
John  Tuthill, 
John  Tuthill,  Jr., 
Daniel  Turner, 
Thomas  Tustin, 
John  Underbill, 
Jeremiah  Vail, 
Jeremiah  Vail,  Jr., 
Thomas  W^eatherby, 
William  Wells, 
Henry  Whitney, 
Thomas  Whittier, 
John  Wiggins, 
Abraham  \Viggins, 
Barnabas  Wines, 
Barnabas  \Vines,  Jr., 
Samuel  Wines, 
[ohn  Youngs,  pastor, 
John  Youngs,  Jr., 
Thomas  Youngs, 
Samuel  Youngs, 
Joseph  Youngs, 


48  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Christopher  Youngs,       Joseph  Youngs,  Jr., 
Joseph  Youngs,  mariner,  Gideon  Youngs. --138 

There  are  138  names  in  the  list. 

It  has  fallen  in  my  way  to  learn  much  of  the 
history  of  some  of  these  men  and  of  their  de- 
scendants of  the  earlier  generations ;  and  I 
may  say,  that  there  is  abundant  evidence, 
from  many  sources,  that  the  first  settlers  were 
lovers  of  liberty  and  virtue,  and  had  intelli- 
gence, and  wisdom,  and  enterprise,  and  indus- 
try, and  endurance,  and  piety  enough  to  make 
them,  by  God's  blessing,  the  worthy  found- 
ers of  a  permanent  and  prosperous  Church 
and  Town.  Throughout  the  period  of  twenty- 
two  years  from  the  first  planting  of  the  Town, 
it  was  only  the  men  who  were  Church  mem- 
bers in  full  communion  that  could  be  voters  in 
the  Town  Meeting  or  hold  an)'  office  of  trust 
or  responsibility  in  the  Town.  Their  faith  and 
patience,  their  foresight  and  energy,  their  pure 
worship  of  God,  their  high  moral  life  through 
obedience  to  His  word,  and  their  supreme1 
trust  in  His  Son,  enabled  those  who  knew  them 
to  say:  "The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place 
shall  be  glad  for  them  ;  and  the  desert  shall 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose."  They  faith- 


REMOVALS,  49 

fully  accomplished  the  work  which  Divine  Prov- 
idence committed  to  their  hearts  and  hands, 
and  left  to  their  successors  the  precious  in- 
heritance that  sprang  into  existence  as  the 
fruit  of  their  virtues  and  their  toils. 

Of  the  full-grown  men — at  least  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight — who  lived  here  and  left 
their  record  in  the  annals  of  this  Town  during 
the  period  of  the  ministry  of  the  first  pas- 
tor from  1640  to  1672,  not  a  few  removed  to 
other  places,  and  became  important  factors  and 
elements  in  the  settlement  and  life  of  other 
Towns. 

Of  these,  Thomas  Baker  removed  to  East- 
hampton,  Long  Island.  He  was  one  of  the 
settlers  and  representatives  of  that  Town  who 
obtained  in  1649  the  title  fr°m  Gov.  Eaton  and 
Gov.  Hopkins,  these  Governors  having  pur- 
chased it  the  previous  year  from  the  native 
chiefs  of  Manhanset,  (Shelter  Island),  Mon- 
tauk,  Cutchogue,  and  Shinnecock.  His  name 
is  first  in  the  list  of  residents  of  Easthampton 
who  in  1660  bought  the  title  of  Montauk  from 
the  widow  and  son  of  the  Chief.  In  this  list 
are  also  the  names  of  Jeremiah  Meacham  and 
George  Miller,  who  had  been  previously  in- 
habitants of  Southold, 


5O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

John  Tucker  lived  on  the  site  of  Mr.  Barna- 
bus  Horton  Booth's  present  residence.  His 
home  and  land  there  gave  name  to  the  street 
which  bounds  Mr.  Booth's  property  on  the 
northeast  and  east  from  the  main  street  of  the 
village  to  the  north  road.  He  became  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  Town  of  Brookhaven, 
Long  Island ;  and  so  did  William  Fanley,  John 
Budd,  Arthur  Smyth,  Robert  Akerly  and  John 
Frost. 

John  Underbill,  the  famous  Captain,  ended 
his  remarkable  career  in  Oyster  Bay  Township, 
Queens  County,  Long  Island.  The  early  his- 
tory of  New  England  and  New  York  very 
clearly  shows  how  he  used  his  sword.  While 
he  was  living  in  Southold  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  a  part  of  which  letter  may 
show  how  he  used  his  pen.  It  is  this : 

"SOUTHOULD,  L.   I.,  ) 

12  of  April  1656.  | 

SIR  I  was  latli  at  Flusching.  Hanna  Feke 
is  to  be  marrid  to  a  verri  gentiele  young  man, 
of  gud  abiliti,  of  louli  fetture  and  gud  behafior." 

This  Hanna  Feke  was  a  sister  of  Capt.  John 
Underbill's  wife,  Elizabeth  Feke — not  "  Field," 
as  Thomson  says  in  his  History  of  Long  Is- 
land— and,  sure  enough,  she  was  married  to 


THOMAS    BENEDICT.  51 

John  Bowne  on  the  7th  day  of  the  next  month 
after  Capt.  Underhill  wrote  the  above  letter  to 
Gov.  Winthrop. 

Thomas  Stevenson,  who  came  to  Southold 
and  lived  here  as  early  as  1644,  was  in  Hemp- 
stead  in  1647,  when  land  was  assigned  to  him 
there.  He  settled  in  Newtown  as  early  as 

1655- 

Thomas  Benedict  was  a  native  of  Notting- 
hamshire, England.  He  came  early  to  South- 
old,  and  settled  in  Hashamommuck  on  the 
east  side  of  the  creek  which  derived  its  earli- 
est English  name  from  his  own.  It  was  first 
called  Thomas  Benedict's  creek,  later  Thomas's 
creek,  then  Tom's  creek,  and  now  Mill  creek. 
The  house  in  which  he  lived  was  not  far  from 
the  Sound.  His  five  sons  and  four  daughters 
were  born  in  Southold.  He  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Huntington,  thence  to  Jamaica,  Long 
Island,  and  afterwards  settled  at  Norwalk,  Con- 
necticut. He  was  a  prominent  man  in  each  of 
these  places.  Seethe  "  Benedict  Genealogy," 
by  his  descendant,  Henry  M.  Benedict,  Esq., 
of  Albany,  New  York. 

John  Bayley  was  born  in  England  in  1617 
and  resided  at  Guilford  in  the  jurisdiction  of 
New  Haven  General  Court  in  1642.  He  came 


52  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

to  Southold  in  1654;  sold  his  dwelling  and 
home  lot  here  in  1661,  and  removed  to  Jamaica, 
Long  Island.  He  was  the  first  who  signed 
the  petition  to  Gov.  Nichols  for  permission  to 
plant  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  and  the  first  man 
named  in  the  Indian  deed  for  that  place.  He 
was  also  the  first  of  the  four  men  to  whom  the 
patent  was  granted  by  the  Governor  under  the 
Duke  of  York.  He  probably  never  removed 
from  Jamaica  to  Elizabeth.  See  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hatfield's  History  of  Elizabeth. 

William  Cramer  moved  from  Southold  to 
Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  and  so  did  John  Dick- 
erson,  John  Haines,  William  Johnson,  Jeffrey 
Jones,  Evan  Salisbury,  Barnabas  Wines,  Jr., 
and  Thomas  Youngs.  All  these  men  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  that  place. 

The  descendants  of  many  of  these  early  set- 
tlers have  been  numerous,  eminent  and  influ- 
ential. 

Not  a  few  who  trace  their  lineage  to  the 
first  pastor  are  professional  men — clergymen, 
physicians,  lawyers,  judges.  One  of  his  de- 
scendants was  a  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  was  before  his  election  known  as  Col. 
John  Youngs. 

The  "Wells  Genealogy"  shows  the  goodly 


DICKERSONS.  53 

array  of  the  posterity  of  the  earliest  Southold 
lawyer,  and  Clerk  and  Recorder  of  the  Town. 

The  "  Horton  Genealogy"  is  a  monument 
to  the  honor  of  Barnabas  Horton,  and  a  noble 
record  of  thousands  of  his  descendants. 

Large  families  of  Dickersons  and  Dickin- 
sons are  descendants  of  Southold's  Philemon 
Dickerson.  Mahlon  Dickerson,  Secretary  of 
the  U.  S.  Navy,  (who,  during  the  autumn  of 
1851,  creeled  in  the  cemetery  of  the  First 
Church  of  Southold  a  massive  marble  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  his  ancestors),  and  his 
brother  Philemon  Dickerson,  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  as  well  as  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  U.  S. 
Senator  from  the  State  of  New  York,  sprang 
'from  the  Southold  settler,  who  came  to  this 
place  by  way  of  Salem  and  of  Lynn,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  descendants  ot  Deacon  Barnabas  Wines 
include  many  eminent  men,  among  them  Gen. 
Wines  of  New  jersey,  prominent  in  Morris 
County  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Abijah  Wines,  a  native  of  Southold, 
who  was  born  May  27,  i  776  ;  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Giles;  had  two  chil- 
dren and  built  his  dwelling  house  on  his  farm 
in  Newport,  New  Hampshire,  before  he  com- 


54  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLt). 

menced  his  preparation  for  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1794, 
and  subsequently  became  the  first  Professor 
of  Systematic  Theology  in  the  Seminary  now 
at  Bangor,  Maine.  To  this  family  belongs  also 
the  late  Rev.  Enoch  Cobb  Wines,  D.  D.,  who 
was  born  in  Hanover,  New  Jersey,  Feb.  17, 
1806,  and  became  so  well  known  as  College 
Professor  and  College  President,  author  of 
many  volumes,  especially  his  "  Commentaries 
on  the  Laws  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews,"  a  work 
which  is  also  known  in  later  editions  as  "The 
Hebrew  Commonwealth;"  and  whose  labors 
have  become  famous  in  all  parts  of  Christen- 
dom as  the  foremost  advocate  of  the  age  in 
behalf  of  Prison  Reformation. 

The  following  is  a  letter  from  his  graceful 
and  productive  pen : 

"  Irvington,  New  York,       ) 
Nov.  5,  1866.  | 
"  Mv  DEAR  BROTHER  WHITAKKR: 

I  was  glad  to  hear 

from  you,  for  I  have  a  very  pleasant  recollec- 
tion of  our  occasional  interviews  when  a  pas- 
tor at  the  East  End."  [That  is,  Easthampton, 
L.  I.] 

"  I   must  own   to  the  soft   impeachment   of 
being  of  the  Long  Island  stock  of  Wines,  and 


WINES.  55 

I  do  not  feel  ashamed  of  my  ancestry.  We 
are  of  Welsh  descent,  a  good  country  to  be  re- 
lated to.  I  am  glad  you  are  engaged  on  so 
worthy  a  work,  and  hope  it  may  soon  appear 
from  the  press. 

"I  should  love  to  visit  you,  and  look  upon 
the  original  homestead  of  the  Wineses.  Let 
me  hear  from  you  again. 

"Truly  and  fraternally  yours, 

E.  C.  WINES. 
"  Rev.  Epher  Whitaker, 

Southold,  L.  I." 

The  descendants  of  Matthias  Corwin  are 
very  numerous  and  widely  spread.  "The  Cor- 
win Genealogy"  indicates  the  names  and  rela- 
tions of  many  worthy  persons,  among  them 
Thomas  Corwin,  Congressman,  Governor  of 
Ohio,  U.  S.  Senator,  Secretary  of  the  National 
Treasury,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Mexico.  Both  of 
his  grandparents  were  Southolders. 

William  H.  Seward,  Governor  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  U.  S.  Senator,  Secretary  of  State 
of  the  United  States  during  the  war  to  sup- 
press the  great  Rebellion,  was  a  descendant  of 
John  Swezey  of  Southold.  Hon.  George  W. 
Seward,  brother  of  the  more  eminent  statesman, 
William  H.  Seward,  and  the  father  of  Dr.  Sew- 
ard, of  Orange,  New  Jersey,  and  of  the  Rev. 


56  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

S.  S.  Seward,  of  New  York  City,  has  recently 
visited  Southold  in  the  interest  of  this  relation- 
ship. 

Very  many  of  the  earliest  comers  to  New 
England,  Long  Island,  and  New  Jersey  were 
a  restless  generation.  They  were  rather  ad- 
venturers and  tradesmen  than  planters  and  set- 
tlers. But  the  most  of  the  first  generation  of 
Southold,  and  the  most  substantial  part  of  the 
people,  came  hither  and  settled  here  for  Re- 
ligion. They  freely  placed  themselves  under 
the  New  Haven  Jurisdiction.  They  were  in 
accord  with  the  New  Haven  ideas  and  purpo- 
ses. What  were  the  motives  and  aims  of  the 
New  Haven  planters,  their  first  pastor,  the 
Rev.  John  Davenport,  has  unfolded  in  a  mas- 
terly manner.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon, 
the  worthy  pastor  of  the  same  Church,  has 
also  faithfully  set  them  forth  in  his  "  Histori- 
cal Discourses."  A  paragraph  from  his  ser- 
mon on  the  close  of  the  fortieth  year  of  his 
pastorate  may  properly  be  quoted  here.  Of 
New  Haven  he  says:  "  Historically,  the  Town 
itself,  as  an  organized  community,  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  this  Church.  It  was  for  the  sake  of 
planting  here  a  church  encumbered  by  no  hu- 
man traditions,  and  dependent  on  no  human 


PURPOSE    OF   THE    SETTLERS,  57 

authority,  that  the  founders  of  the  New  Haven 
Colony  left  their  homes  in  pleasant  England, 
and  their  trades  and  affairs  in  busy  London, 
and  ventured  their  all  in  the  enterprise  of  es- 
tablishing here  a  civil  commonwealth  of  Chris- 
tian men,  'the  Lord's  free  people;'  and  this  is 
the  Church  which  they  planted  here  before 
their  settlement  had  even  received  an  English 
name.  It  was  for  the  sake  of  gaining  for  their 
church  a  place  and  habitation,  that  all  this 
beautiful  plain,  with  the  surrounding  hills  and 
waters,  was  purchased  of  the  savages  whom 
they  found  here.  It  was  for  the  sake  of  their 
church  that  they  planned  this  city,  and  reserv- 
ed this  central  square  for  public  uses,  first  of 
all  building  here  their  humble  temple,  and 
then  making  their  graves  around  it." 

What  is  thus  so  worthily  said  of  New  Ha- 
ven is  equally  true  of  Southold.  The  first 
church  edifice  was  built  in  the  central  square 
on  the  highest  ground  of  the  settlement,  freely 
purchased  and  sacredly  reserved  for  public 
uses.  The  earliest  graves  were  made  around 
this  public  building;  and  these  things  were 
done  by  intelligent  and  pious  men,  who  deem- 
ed religion  their  chief  interest. 

Easthampton,  Long    Island,  in  the   begin- 


58  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOI.D. 

ning  of  its  history,  chose  to  put  itself  under 
the  Government  of  Connecticut  rather  than 
unite  with  the  Jurisdiction  of  New  Haven ; 
and  Southampton  submitted  early  to  a  revolu- 
tion, in  order  to  exchange  the  New  Haven 
ideas  and  purposes  for  those  of  Connecticut ; 
and  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson, 
with  a  considerable  number  of  the  best  of  the 
people,  abandoned  the  place  and  settled  Bran- 
ford  under  the  New  Haven  Jurisdiction ;  and 
when  this  was  merged  in  Connecticut,  they 
removed  from  Branford  and  founded  Newark, 
New  Jersey.  But  Southold  effectively  resist- 
ed the  attempt  to  accomplish  such  a  trans- 
formation here,  and  successfully  maintained 
its  original  character. 

It  was  planted  mainly  for  Religion.  This 
purpose  ruled  the  people  of  the  settlement  in 
its  early  years  as  thoroughly  as  it  controls  the 
people  of  the  First  Church  of  Southold  to-day. 
And  if  this  congregation  now  has  a  right  to 
make  its  own  rules,  and  to  pursue  its  own  re- 
ligious objects,  according  to  its  own  wisdom 
and  choice,  directed  by  the  Word  of  God,  then 
the  early  settlers  here,  in  their  day,  had  even 
a  more  unrestricted  right  to  the  same  free- 
dom. They  left  their  pleasant  homes,  and 


THEIR    AIM,    RELIGION.  59 

their   dear   kindred,  and    all    the    advantages 
which  ages  of  civilization  afforded  them  in  the 
country  of  their  birth  ;  they  crossed  the  ocean, 
and  plunged  into  the  wilderness,  and  hid  them- 
selves in  its  solitudes,  and  toiled  and  suffered 
to  subdue  its  savage  wilderness;  they  endur- 
ed all  the  unknown  and  the  inevitable  hard- 
ships of  such  an  enterprise,  for  the  sake  of  Re- 
ligion.    They  chose   to  level   the    forest   and 
plant  the  waste  places  on   repulsive  shores,  in 
order  to  worship  and  serve  God  according  to 
His  word,  and  to  promote  the  welfare  and  sal- 
vation of  all  those  who  were  willing   to  share 
their  lot  and  were  like-minded  with  themselves. 
They  did  not  seek   to  withhold   nor  desire   to 
withhold  from  those  who  were   unlike-minded, 
the    enjoyments    of    the    same     liberty    wrhich 
they    claimed    for    themselves.       The     conti- 
nent was   large.      If  men    supremely    desired 
other    objects   than    the    religion    of   the    Bi- 
ble, they  could  seek  those  objects  elsewhere. 
The  wilderness  "was  all  before  them  where  to 
choose."     The)'  had  only  to  make  a  new  plan- 
tation in  the  savage  wild,  as  the  Southold  set- 
tlers had  done.      No  man  in  this  place  desired 
to  interfere  with  them.      But  the  people  here 
were  nut  willing  that  others  should  come  hith- 


6O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

er  and  selfishly  destroy  the  work  for  which 
they  themselves  had  crossed  the  ocean  and 
counted  the  cost  and  suffered  the  hardships  of 
planting  in  the  wilderness  a  church  and  a  com- 
monwealth according  to  the  word  of  God.  If 
strangers  did  not  wish  to  labor  for  religion, 
and  to  live  according  to  the  Divine  law  and 
the  gracious  gospel  of  Christ,  they  could  go 
elsewhere  and  dig  up  trees'  roots,  as  the  set- 
tlers of  Southold  were  doing  here.  No  man 
would  prevent  them  troin  planting  a  settle- 
ment according  to  their  own  mind.  And  it 
was  only  the  selfish  and  unjust  who  desired  to 
thwart  the  purposes  and  to  seize  the  posses- 
sions of  the  Christian  founders  of  this  Church 
and  Town  ;  and  it  is  only  the  selfish  and  un- 
just who  now  wish  to  asperse  the  name  of  the 
early  settlers,  because  they  were  disposed  to 
maintain  the  same  freedom  and  rights  which 
they  were  perfectly  willing  that  all  others 
should  enjoy,  viz.:  the  liberty  and  the  right  to 
plant  in  the  wilderness  among  savages  the 
centres  and  settlements  of  a  new  civilization 
according  to  their  own  minds  and  hearts,  en- 

o 

lightened  by  the  word  of  God.  It  is  not  un- 
common in  these  days  for  a  crowd  of  idlers, 
thieves,  vagabonds,  rum-drinkers,  and  loose 


INTERLOPERS.  6 1 

women  to  swarm  out  of  a  steamer  or  a  rail- 
road train  on  a  pleasant  Sabbath,  and  pour  in- 
to a  quiet  village  near  one  of  our  great  cities, 
and  forthwith  overrun  the  grounds  and  plun- 
der the  gardens  and  orchards  of  the  industrious 
citizens,  who  have  planted  the  orchards  and  cul- 
tivated the  gardens  for  a  far  different  purpose. 
But  the  interlopers  most  violently  resent  and 
resist  any  interference  with  their  own  doings. 
They  most  stoutly  insist,  that  no  one  has  more 
or  better  right  to  the  fruits  of  the  earth — the 
common  bounty  of  all-generous  Nature — than 
the  children  of  Nature,  even  themselves,  who 
seek  the  supply  of  their  wants  and  the  grati- 
fication of  their  appetites  in  the  most  direct  and 
simple  way,  by  taking  what  comes  to  hand. 
They  have  very  little  charity  for  the  selfishness 
and  exclusiveness  of  the  Puritans  who  seek  to 
retain  the  advantages  for  which  they  have  toiled 
and  suffered.  It  is  (these  robbers  say)  quite 
too  late  in  the  day — it  is  altogether  behind  the 
age — for  any  men  or  company  of  men  to  un- 
dertake to  retain  for  their  own  use  the  kindly 
bounty  of  all-producing  Nature,  or  to  set  up 
claims  for  the  sole  and  personal  possession  of 
property  which  is  fitted  to  promote  the  com- 
fort or  gratification  of  mankind.  On  these 
6 


62  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

principles  of  loafers  and  rowdies  and  thieves, 
and  communists — on  Prudhon's   famous  say- 
ing" ,  La  propriete,  c  cst  le  vol,  (property  is  rob- 
bery)— the  early  settlers  of  New  Haven  and 
Southold,  and  other  Puritan   Plantations  are 
greatly  blamed  by  the  bigotry  of  base  selfish- 
ness for  their  efforts  to  defend  themselves  in 
the  posession  of  the  property  and  the  privi- 
leges for  which  they  suffered  and  toiled,  and 
which   they  made  valuable  and  productive  by 
their  own  money,  labor  and  hardships.     For 
their  resolute  efforts  to  retain  their  own,  they 
are  charged  with  narrowness,  selfishness,  big- 
otry, sourness;  and  with  a  disposition  to  claim 
that  the  saints  should  rule  the   earth.      The 
early  settlers  of  Southold  did  not  make  this 
claim.     Who  ever  did  ?     To  charge  this  upon 
them  is   a  slander,  no  matter  who  makes  the 
charge.     It  is  the  fruit  of  malice,  prejudice,  or 
ignorance,    and,    at  this    day,    nearly    equally 
blameworthy  from  whichever  source  it  comes. 
It  is  like  charging  them   with   enacting   and 
maintaining   "  The   Blue   Laws    of   Connecti- 
cut " — a  code  which  never  had  a  real,  legal  ex- 
istence,  nor  any  other  origin  than   the  mali- 
cious invention  of  the    spiteful    and  disrepu- 
table Hugh  Peters.     The  epithet  "blue"  was 


SLANDERERS.  63 

applied  to  any  one  who  in  the  reign  of  Charles 
II.  opposed  the  looseness,  sensuality  and  vol- 
uptuousness of  the  times.  Thus  of  one's  re- 
ligion, it  is  said  in  Hudibras : 

"  T  was  Presbyterian  true  blue." 

"That  this  epithet,"  says  the  New  Ameri- 
can Cyclopedia,  "should  find  its  way  to  the 
colonies  was  a  matter  of  course.  It  was  here 
applied  not  only  to  persons,  but  to  the  cus- 
toms, institutions,  and  laws  of  the  Puritans,  by 
those  who  wished  to  render  the  prevailing 
system  ridiculous.  Hence,  probably,  a  belief 
with  some  that  a  distinct  system  of  laws,  known 
as  the  Blue  Laws,  must  somewhere  have  had  a 
local  habitation.  The  existence  of  such  a  code 
of  Blue  Laws  is  fully  disproved.  The  only  au- 
thority in  its  favor  is  Peters,  who  is  notorious- 
ly untrustworthy.  The  traditions  upon  this 
subject,  from  which  Peters  framed  his  stories, 
undoubtedly  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  ear- 
ly settlers  of  New  Haven  were  uncommonly 
strict  in  their  application  of  '  the  general  rules 
of  righteousness.' " 

What  the  people  of  New  Haven,  and  of 
Southold  as  a  part  of  the  New  Haven  Juris- 
diction, did  maintain,  was,  that  they  had  the 


64  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

right  to  hold  and  rule  the  settlement  which 
they  had  planted  in  the  wilderness  for  the 
sake  of  religion  and  liberty  under  God ;  and 
that  it  was  their  duty  to  resist  every  attempt 
to  rob  them  of  their  possessions — their  bound- 
en  duty  to  thwart  every  design  to  hand  them 
and  their  plantation  over  to  men  from  whose 
tyranny  and  vices  they  had  determined  and 
undertaken  to  escape  by  crossing  the  ocean 
and  planting  their  dwellings  on  unknown 
shores ;  and  by  their  own  virtue,  industry, 
endurance  of  hardship,  and  devotion  to  God, 
making  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  places 
glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  to  rejoice  and 
blossom  as  the  rose.  For  the  sake  of  the 
freedom,  and  the  virtue,  and  the  piety  taught 
in  God's  word,  they  had  crossed  the  sea,  leav- 
ing behind  them  the  homes  of  their  kindred 
and  the  graves  of  their  fathers  ;  they  had  en- 
dured the  rigors  of  an  unwonted  clime  ;  they 
had  toiled  to  change  the  savage  face  of  the 
landscape  into  fruitful  fields  ;  they  had  suf- 
fered from  storms  and  tempests  in  their  lowly 
hovels  covered  only  with  thatch ;  they  had 
encountered  the  terrors  of  strange  and  wild 
beasts,  and  the  more  unnatural  wildness  of 
savage  and  bloody  men ;  they  had  fallen  in 


THE    PURITANS.  65 

sorrowful  numbers  under  the  power  of  unusual 
and  destructive  diseases,  without  the  remedies 
and  alleviations  of  the  healing  art,  which  are 
desired  in  vain  amid  settlements  planted  in 
the  wilderness.  And  yet  they  are  blamed, 
and  abused,  and  mocked,  because  they  were 
unwilling  to  give  up  the  fruits  of  such  toils 
and  hardships,  and  to  hand  over  the  govern- 
ment of  their  settlements  to  the  same  class  of 
corrupters  and  oppressors  that  had  caused 
them  to  brave  such  dangers  and  endure  such 
calamities,  and  to  escape  from  whose  domina- 
tion and  wickedness  they  had  crossed  the 
ocean,  plunging  into  the  wilds  of  America 
in  order  to  be  free. 

Faithful  Christian  Men  !  The  haters  of  lib- 
erty and  of  godliness  oppressed  you  then  ; 
and  the  haters  of  religion,  virtue  and  freedom 
malign  and  revile  you  now.  But  the  freedom 
and  prosperity  which  we  enjoy  to-day,  you 
won  for  us  in  those  perilous  and  suffering 
times  ;  and  the  land  which  we  love  smiles  in 
the  light  of  the  worth  and  piety  which  you 
made  possible.  "That  the  English  people 
became  Protestants  is  due  to  the  Puritans." 
This  is  the  testimony  of  George  Bancroft,  our 
great  national  historian  ;  and  with  equal  truth 


66  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLt). 

it  may  be  said :  That  the  United  States  be- 
came a  free  and  independent  nation  is  due 
to  the  Puritans.  They  are,  under  God,  the  au- 
thors of  those  principles  and  virtues  which  have 
conferred  upon  us  our  religious  and  civil  liber- 
ty. It  was  in  the  third  month  of  1643,  that  the 
Puritan  Colonies  of  America  formed  their 
Union  and  became  the  United  Colonies  of 
New  England.  This  third  month  they  com- 
monly called  May,  for  the  year  then  began  on 
the  twenty-fifth  day  of  March ;  and  on  the 
iQth  of  May,  1643,  tne  United  Colonies  said  : 
"  We  all  came  into  these  parts  of  America 
with  one  and  the  same  end  and  aim,  namely, 
to  advance  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  enjoy  the  liberties  of  the  gospel 
in  purity  and  peace." — Bancroft,  vol  i,  page 
464. 

It  was  to  make  sure  of  religious  and  civil 
freedom  and  purity  that  the  New  Haven  Gen- 
eral Court  for  the  Jurisdiction,  on  the  27th  of 
October,  1643,  adopted  this  brief  Constitu- 
tion as  the  fundamental  law  of  the  united 
plantations  : 

"I.  It  was  agreed  and  concluded,  as  a 
fundamental  order  not  to  be  disputed  or  ques- 
tioned hereafter,  that  none  shall  be  admitted 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL   ORDER.  67 

to  be  free  Burgesses  in  any  of  the  Plantations 
within  this  Jurisdiction  for  the  future,  but  such 
Planters  as  are  members  of  some  or  other  of 
the  approved  Churches  in  New  England  ;  nor 
shall  any  but  such  free  Burgesses  have  any 
vote  in  any  Elections  (the  six  present  freemen 
at  Milford  enjoying  the  Liberty  with  the  cau- 
tions agreed).  Nor  shall  any  power  or  trust 
in  the  ordering  of  any  Civil  Affayres  be  at  any 
time  put  into  the  hands  of  any  other  than  such 
church  members  ;  though  as  free  Planters  all 
have  right  to  their  Inheritance  and  to  com- 
merce, according  to  such  Grants,  Orders,  and 
Laws  as  shall  be  made  concerning  the  same." 

[For  Articles  II.,  III.,  IV.,  and  V.,  see 
Thompson's  History  of  Long  Island,  and  Lam- 
bert's History  of  New  Haven.  The  last  arti- 
cle is  this  :] 

"VI.  The  Courts  shall,  with  all  care  and 
diligence,  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
purity  of  Religion,  and  suppress  the  contrary, 
according  to  their  best  light  from  the  Word  of 
God,  and  by  the  advice  of  the  Elders  and 
Churches  in  the  Jurisdiction,  so  far  as  it  might 
concern  the  civill  power.  2d.  This  Court 
shall  have  power  to  make  and  repeal  lawes, 
and  to  require  their  execution  while  in  force 
in  all  the  several  plantations.  3d.  To  impose 
an  oath  upon  all  the  Magistrates,  and  to  call 
them  to  account  for  breach  of  the  Lawes,  and 


68  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHOLD. 

to  censure  them  according  to  offences ;  to 
settle  and  levie  rates  and  contribution  of  the 
Plantations  for  the  public  service,  and  to  hear 
and  determine  causes,  whether  civill  or  crim- 
inall  ;  they  to  proceed  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  is  the  rule  of  all  righteous  lawes 
and  sentences.  Nothing  shall  pass  as  an  act 
without  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the 
Magistrates  and  of  the  majority  of  the  Depu- 
ties. In  the  Generall  Court  shall  be  and  re- 
side the  supreme  power  of  the  Jurisdiction." 

The  New  Haven  Jurisdiction,  with  its  sev- 
eral Plantations,  continued  under  this  Consti- 
tution until  Gov.  Winthrop,  of  Connecticut, 
through  his  own  personal  influence  with 
Charles  II.,  obtained  the  royal  charter  which 
merged  the  Jurisdiction  of  New  Haven  in 
the  Government  of  Connecticut,  and  extend- 
ed the  boundaries  of  the  latter  so  as  to  include 
most  of  the  territory  of  New  Haven.  The 
officers  and  people  of  New  Haven  resisted 
this  union  of  the  two  governments  for  three 
years,  until  the  coming  of  royal  commissioners 
to  determine  boundaries  caused  the  dwellers 
in  the  western  part  of  the  New  Haven  terri- 
tory to  fear  that  they  might  be  placed  under 
the  authority  of  the  Duke  of  York  ;  and  this 
they  deemed  would  be  more  intolerable  than 


BRANFORD,  NEWARK.  69 

the  Government  of  Connecticut.  According- 
ly, in  1665,  the  opposition  to  the  charter  of 
1662  generally  ceased.  But  the  Rev.  Abra- 
ham Pierson  and  nearly  all  his  congregation 
at  Branford  could  not  endure  even  the  Con- 
necticut Government,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
they  sought  a  settlement  elsewhere,  and  soon 
founded  Newark,  New  Jersey.  Dr.  Sprague, 
in  the  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  says  of 
Mr.  Pierson  :  "  He  was  anxious  that  the  little 
colony  at  Southampton  [on  its  settlement] 
should  become  connected  with  New  Haven, 
as  Southold  had  been  [become]  ;  and  was 
dissatisfied  with  the  agreement,  in  1644,  to 
come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut. 
He  therefore  removed,  in  1647,  with  a  small 
part  of  his  congregation,  to  Branford."  "  In 
the  contentions  between  the  Jurisdictions  of 
Connecticut  and  New  Haven  from  1662  to 
1665,  Mr.  Pierson  took  sides  with  Mr.  Daven- 
port and  others  against  the  union  ;  and  so 
strong  were  his  feelings  on  this  subject  that, 
when  the  event  took  place,  he  resolved  to  re- 
move with  his  people  from  the  colony.  Ar- 
rangements were  accordingly  made,  and  on 
the  3Oth  of  October,  1666,  he,  with  most  of 
his  congregation  and  many  prominent  indi- 


7O  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

viduals  from  Guilford,  New  Haven  and  Mil- 
ford,  made  and  signed  '  a  plantation  coven- 
ant '  for  that  purpose ;  the  first  article  of 
which  was  '  that  none  should  be  admitted 
freemen  or  free  burgesses,  but  such  planters 
as  are  members  of  some  or  other  of  the  Con- 
gregational churches,  and  that  none  but  such 
be  chosen  to  magistracy,  or  to  carry  on  any 
part  of  civil  judicature,  or  as  deputies  or 
assistants,  or  to  have  power  to  vote  in  estab- 
lishing laws,  making  or  repealing  them,  or 
to  any  chief  military  trust  or  office.'  To  ac- 
complish their  purpose,  they  removed  the 
next  year  to  New  Jersey  and  planted  Newark. 
The  whole  church,  with  its  officers  and  rec- 
ords, abandoned  their  lands  and  homes,  and 
left  Branford,  as  Trumbull  says,  '  almost 
without  an  inhabitant.' '  The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  F. 
Stearns,  in  his  "  History  of  the  First  Church 
of  Newark,"  remarks,  that  they  purposed  "  to 
found  a  Church  upon  pure  principles,  and  a 
State,  which,  though  separate  in  its  jurisdiction, 
should  act  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Church, 
and  be  governed  in  all  its  procedures  by  the 
rules  of  God's  Holy  Word."  As  it  was  in 
Southold,  so  it  was  in  Newark  in  the  begin- 
ning, and  indeed,  according  to  Dr.  Stearns, 


THE    MAIN    OBJECT.  fl 

"  during  the  first  seventy  years,  the  Town 
transacted  all  the  business  of  the  Congrega- 
tion ;  and  the  seventh  minister,  as  were  all  his 
predecessors,  was  called  to  his  office  and  had 
his  salary  fixed  by  a  vote  of  the  Town  in  the 
Town-Meeting."  See  "  First  Church  of  New- 
ark," page  2.  The  Rev.  John  Davenport  also 
removed  from  New  Haven,  and  became  the 
Pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts. But  most  of  the  people  of  the  New 
Haven  Jurisdiction,  including  those  of  South- 
old,  believed  that  their  liberties  would  be  safe 
under  the  Connecticut  charter,  and  according- 
ly retained  their  lands  and  remained  in  the 
homes  which  they  had  made  for  themselves 
and  their  children. 

There  is  need  of  a  clear  apprehension  of 
the  main  object  of  the  early  settlers  of  this 
place.  The  history  cannot  be  understood  with- 
out it.  They  did  not  come  here  chiefly  to 
live  in  ease,  nor  to  accumulate  wealth,  nor  to 
acquire  fame,  nor  even  mainly  to  lay  the  foun- 
dations of  a  civil  state  or  a  nation.  Their 
main  object  was  Religion.  They  came  here  to 
possess  and  enjoy,  to  practice  and  promote 
the  religion  which  they  believed  the  word  of 
God  required.  They  planted  a  Town  here  for 


72  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

the  sake  of  maintaining  a  church  uncontrolled 
by  men  who  were  unwilling  to  obey  the  law 
of  God,  made  known  in  his  own  word.  They 
made  the  Bible  their  chief  code  of  laws,  and 
the  foundation  and  standard  of  all  their  rules 
of  government  and  conduct ;  and  they  did 
this,  because  the  religion  of  the  Bible  was 
their  chief  concern  in  this  life.  They  did  not 
wish  to  admit  into  their  fellowship  any  man 
whose  purposes,  aims,  manners,  morals,  or  be- 
havior would  not  accord  and  harmonize  with 
the  chief  ends  which  they  had  in  view.  They 
came  here  while  their  brethren  of  like  mind 
and  faith,  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  were 
writing  the  catechism  whose  first  statement  is 
this,  namely:  "Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify 
God  and  to  enjoy  Him  forever." 

They  doubtless  wished  to  serve  Him  in 
peace  and  quietness,  free  from  the  conten- 
tions, oppressions  and  wars  which  were  then 
harrowing  the  souls  and  shedding  the  blood 
of  their  fellow  men  in  all  western  Europe. 

For,  at  the  very  time  of  the  settlement  of 
Soiithold,  the  martial  forces  of  continental 
Europe,  from  the  remotest  cape  of  Sweden 
on  the  north,  to  the  extreme  limits  of  Spain 
and  Italy  on  the  south,  had  already  fought 


EVENTS   OF   THE   TIME.  73 

through  more  than  a  score  of  years  for  and 
against  the  religious  freedom  and  civil  rights 
of  the  northern  nations.  These  nations  gain- 
ed this  end  after  a  conflict  which  made  all  the 
western  countries  of  Europe  glow  and  blaze 
with  the  heat  of  war  throughout  a  generation, 
and  reduced  the  population  of  Germany  from 
forty  millions  to  four  millions.  This  struggle 
of  thirty  years'  continuance  brought  the  Peace 
of  Westphalia  and  secured  the  freedom  of  the 
Protestants  precisely  eight  years  and  three 
days  after  the  organization  of  the  Southold 
Church. 

It  was  in  1640  that  Brazil,  with  other  Span- 
ish colonies,  became  a  possession  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, though  it  soon  after  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Portuguese.  Spain  could  extend 
her  influence  only  within  the  limits  of  Italy; 
W  there,  under  the  popedom  of  Barberini, 
the  inhabitants,  having  dedicated  St.  Peter's, 
now  had  to  found  the  College  De  Propaganda 
Fide.  Furthermore,  the  Pope  deemed  it  ne- 
cessary to  punish  Galileo  for  teaching  the  true 
theory  of  the  solar  system ;  and  to  condemn 
Jansenism,  in  order  to  quiet  the  Jesuits.  For 
Jansen's  "  Doctrine  of  Augustine"  was  printed 
in  1640,  and  forthwith  added  intensity  to  a 

7 


74  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHOLD. 

controversy  within  the    Papal    Church   which 
centuries  seem  unable  to  end. 

The  founders  of  Southold  had  grown  up 
from  their  youth  in  a  remarkable  age — one 
most  active  and  progressive  in  science  and 
art,  in  war  and  statesmanship,  in  literature 
and  religion.  The  chief  men  among  them 
were  beginning  to  show  their  beard  when 
Shakespeare  died.  And  it  was  in  their  time 
that  Harvey  discovered  the  circulation  of  the 
blood ;  Kepler,  the  wonderful  relations  of  plan- 
etary motion ;  Des  Cartes,  the  laws  of  refrac- 
tion; Torricelli,  the  weight  of  the  atmos- 
phere ;  and  Pascal  wrote  the  Provincial  Let- 
ters and  expounded  the  cycloid.  Then  it  was 
that  Kircher  invented  the  speaking  trumpet ; 
Gunter,  his  celebrated  scale;  Guericke  set  up 
his  gigantic  barometer.  Then  Holland's  great- 
est writer  became  the  champion  of  the  free 
commerce  of  the  ocean,  and  set  forth  the 
Rights  of  War  and  Peace.  Then  Sir  Edward 
Coke  wrote  his  Institutes  of  the  Laws  of  Eng- 
land; Chillingworth,  his  Religion  of  Protest- 
ants a  Safe  Way  to  Salvation ;  Ussher,  his 
Chronology;  Bunyan,  his  Pilgrim's  Progress; 
and  Milton,  his  Reformation  in  England,  as 
well  as  all  that  can  be  written  for  the  Liberty 


PROGRESS    OF   THE    AGE.  75 

of  Unlicensed  Printing.  The  founding  of 
Southold  was,  moreover,  in  the  times  of  Bo- 
chart  and  Selden,  of  Guido  and  Rubens,  of  Van 
Dyke  and  Domenicheno;  but  not  of  these, 
and  such  as  these  only ;  for  it  was  also  the 
times  of  Hampden  and  of  Cromwell. 

We  sometimes  boast  of  our  own  progress ; 
but  the  last  three  hundred  years  have  seen  no 
quarter  of  a  century  of  greater  relative  ad- 
vancement than  the  years  wherein  the  New 
Haven  towns  were  under  the  government  of 
the  General  Court  for  the  Jurisdiction.  The 
discoveries,  inventions,  and  improvements, 
then,  were  as  remarkable,  and  as  important  to 
the  people,  as  those  which  we  admire  and 
praise  most  highly  at  the  present  day. 

In  England,  the  people  had  gained  posses- 
sion of  those  immense  advantages  which  had 
accrued  from  the  marvelous  transformation 
produced  by  the  publication  and  lawful  use  of 
the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue ;  and  then  the 
half  century  from  1638  to  1688  saw  the  great 
uprising  of  liberty;  the  long  civil  war;  the  be- 
heading of  the  King,  and  the  overthrow  of 
royalty ;  the  formation  of  the  republican  com- 
monwealth ;  the  abolition  of  the  hierarchy ; 
the  supremacy  of  Presbyterianism  first,  and 


76  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

then  of  Independency  in  the  councils  of  Church 
and  State  ;  the  prevailing  fear  of  future  insta- 
bility ;  the  restoration  of  monarchy  ;  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  prelacy ;  the  revival  of  popery ; 
and  the  consequent  and  successful  revolution 
for  the  banishment  of  the  papal  power,  and 
for  the  security  of  civil  and  religious  freedom 
in  England.  Then  English  literature,  advanc 
ing  from  the  immaturity  and  grossness  of 
Elizabeth's  age,  disclosed  the  great  names  of 
Cowley  and  Milton,  Jeremy  Taylor  and  John 
Bunyan,  Lightfoot  and  Clarendon,  Baxter  and 
Owen,  Barrow  and  Tillotson,  and  that  other 
name,  greater  than  any  contemporary  prelate's, 
that  is,  John  Howe.  All  these  and  more  were 
contemporaries  of  Southold's  first  Pastor. 

And  other  influences  were  at  work  to  affecl; 
the  character  of  men  who  were  most  of  all 
open-eyed,  spiritually  minded,  and  fond  of 
liberty;  (and  such  were  the  first  settlers  of 
this  place);  for  the  country,  of  which  the 
British  King  was  a  native,  had  taken  the  Cov- 
enanter's Oath  two  years  before  Puritanism 
struck  its  roots  into  the  soil  of  the  east  end 
of  Long  Island. 

The  age  was  full  of  enterprise.  It  was  in 
1640  that  Englishmen  gained  their  first  foot- 


THE    SPIRIT    OF   ADVENTURE.  77 

hold  in  India;  and  within  the  lifetime  of  South- 
old,  Victoria's  present  Empire  in  the  East  has 
grown  from  a  few  acres  without  inhabitants 
to  a  magnitude  so  vast  that  the  Empress  of 
India  now  reigns  over  one  fifth  of  the  whole 
population  of  the  globe.  It  is  not  always  the 
case,  that 

"  Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way." 

For  the  English  spirit  of  adventure  seeks  its 
objects  in  every  direction;  and  it  has  never 
been  greater  or  bolder  than  in  the  days  of 
Southold's  early  history,  when  the  frailest 
barks  that  ever  sailed  the  ocean — crafts  of 
forty  or  fifty  tons  only,  (vessels  that  would 
now  be  called  small  sloops)  ;  but  manned  by 
the  most  daring  mariners  that  ever  drew  a  sail 
or  turned  a  rudder — flitted  to  and  fro  over  the 
waves  of  the  Atlantic,  like  clouds  across  the 
face  of  heaven,  while  larger  vessels  of  the 
same  restless  nation  were  in  every  commer- 
cial city  and  harbor  of  the  world.  Among 
this  energetic  people,  the  spirit  of  discovery; 
the  desire  of  wealth ;  the  fascination  of  adven- 
ture; the  social  freedom  of  a  new  country; 
and  the  conflicts  of  religious  and  political  par- 
ties, were  all  aclive  in  sending  traders  and 
adventurers,  as  well  as  religious  reformers  and 


?  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

devotees  of  liberty,  to  this  Western  Continent. 
England  especially  was  a  swarming  hive ;  and 
the  most  industrious  bees  that  gather  honey 
can  also  sting  when  they  are  improperly  dis- 
turbed and  hindered  in  their  work.  Tens  of 
thousands  of  these  vigorous  Englishmen  had 
already  made  their  way  across  the  ocean  to 
New  England  alone,  before  the  meeting  of  the 
Long  Parliament,  which  convened  a  fortnight 
after  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  gathered  his 
Church  anew  in  this  place.  It  was  a  Parlia- 
ment which  proved  to  be  perhaps  the  most 
influential  political  body  that  ever  assembled 
for  legislation  in  Great  Britain. 


PERIOD  OF  THE   MINISTRY  OF  THE 
REV.  JOHN  YOUNGS— CONTINUED. 

1640 — 1672. 


CHAPTER  II. 

It  was  in  these  circumstances,  and  subject 
to  these  influences,  with  the  best  motives,  and 
pure  religion  for  their  chief  object,  that  the 
first  settlers  of  Southold  laid  the  foundations 
of  their  Church  and  Town  upon  the  Word  of 
God. 

While  they  were  establishing  their  relig- 
ious and  political  institutions,  and  guarding 
their  freedom  in  both  their  Church  and  com- 
monwealth with  the  utmost  prudence,  fore- 
sight and  circumspection,  they  were  also  care- 
ful and  busy  in  promoting  their  material  in- 
terests. They  had  examined  the  soil  under 
their  feet  and  the  sky  above  their  heads,  and 
chosen  the  site  of  their  settlement  with  the 
greatest  knowledge  and  skill.  Unlike  the 
planters  of  Southampton,  they  were  not  con- 


8 2  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

strained  to  change  their  location  at  the  end  of 
a  few  years.  They  placed  the  centre  of  their 
plantation  where  it  is  in  some  measure  shel- 
tered from  the  winds  of  the  icy  winter  by  the 
high  bluff  on  the  north  of  it,  and  where  the 
southern  breezes  of  the  summer  come  to  it 
not  only  from  the  more  distant  sea,  without 
its  fogs,  but  also  tempered  by  a  succession  of 
salt  water  bays  and  streams.  They  planted 
it  where  it  is  conveniently  accessible  from  the 
harbor  putting  up  from  the  deep,  broad  and 
beautiful  Peconic  Bay,  and  from  the  head  of 
the  harbor  they  opened  a  road  running  near- 
ly north  and  rising  gently  to  the  slightly  un- 
dulating plain,  eminently  suitable  for  their 
purpose,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  water 
and  extending  from  Peconic  Bay  to  Long  Is- 
land Sound.  Then,  at  right  angles  with  this 
road,  they  laid  out  the  main  street  of  the  vil- 
lage, running  a  few  points  south  of  west. 
The  first  lot  on  the  south  side  of  the  main 
street  became  the  minister's  house-home  lot  ; 
the  one  opposite,  the  lawyer's.  The  house- 
home  lots  of  the  other  settlers  were  along 
each  side  of  the  street,  wherever,  it  would 
seem,  each  man's  lot  happened  to  fall.  But 
the  allotment  of  land  was  no  bar  to  the  sale 


PLAN    OF   THE    VILLAGE.  83 

or  exchange  of  real  property  among  them- 
selves. Such  exchanges  for  convenience  or 
other  causes  were  common.  The  street  ran 
almost  in  a  right  line  about  half  a  mile,  and 
then  making-  an  obtuse  angfle  it  continued  di- 

O  <-> 

reclly  south,  some  third  of  a  mile,  to  the  head 
of  a  stream  which  puts  up  westerly  from  the 
Town  harbor  ;  but  which,  at  this  point,  was  fed 
so  freely  by  fresh  springs  as  to  afford  sweet 
and  healthful  drink  for  the  cattle.  At  an  ear- 
ly day,  the  street  was  extended  eastward  from 
the  harbor  road  ;  and  allotments  of  land  for 
tillage  and  of  meadow  for  pasture  in  summer, 
and  supplies  of  hay  for  cattle  in  winter,  were 
made  from  time  time  to  the  freemen ;  for  the 
people  increased  from  year  to  year.  In  the 
"Historical  Sketch  of  Southold  Town"  by 
Albertson  Case,  Esq.,  it  is  said:  "Constant 
accessions  and  additions  of  new  settlers  were 
occurring  in  the  years  immediately  following 
the  first  settlement.  Of  these  first  years  the 
Town  has  no  official  record.  There  was  a 
book  of  records  covering  that  time  as  appears 
from  the  records  still  in  existence,  but  no  one 
knows  aught  of  it  now. 

"  Liber  A  of  our  Town  Records  begins  with 
the  date  1651,  and  quite  naturally  the  record 


84  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHOLD. 

of  each  man's  home-lot  and  out  lands  is  the 
first  subject  embraced  in  the  book.  These 
home-lots  were  allotted  among  the  settlers, 
and  most  of  them  are  described  as  contain- 
ing four  acres  more  or  less.  Some  of  the 
later  allotments  were  subject  to  the  condition 
that  the  grantee  should  build  upon  them  with- 
in three  years. 

"This  is  the  way  the  record  begins  :  'Anno 
Domini,  1651,  Breefe  records  of  all  the  in- 
habitants accommodations  herein  as  follow- 
eth  vidtt  Imp}- is.  The  Reverend  Mr.  John 
Youngs,  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
Southold,  aforesaid,  his  home-lot,  with  the 
meadow  thereunto  acljoyninge,  conteyning  by 
estimation  seaven  acres,  more  or  less,  bound- 
ed,' &c."  This  lot  was  on  the  southwest  cor- 
ner where  the  road  from  the  harbor  joined  the 
main  street,  just  across  the  street  and  north 
of  the  Pastor's  was  the  house-home-lot  of 
William  Wells,  Esq.  Barnabas  Morton's  lots 
were  on  the  northwest  and  northeast  corners 
of  the  main  street  and  Horton's  lane,  where 
Mr.  David  P.  Morton  and  Ira  Hull  Tuthill, 
Esq.,  now  live.  The  Southold  Savings  Bank 
and  the  Post  Office  stand  on  the  site  of  John 
Budd's  home-lot,  now  the  property  and  resi- 


EARLY    HOME-LOTS.  85 

dence  of  Jonathan  W.  Huntting,  the  Post 
Master  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Southold. 
Richard  Benjamin  lived  on  the  south  side  of 
the  street  immediately  west  of  the  church-lot 
and  burying-ground.  He  was  the  first  sex- 
ton. Capt.  John  Underbill's  home-lot  was 
north  of  the  street  and  on  the  hill  west  of  Mr. 
David  T.  Conklin's  present  residence.  The 
home-lot  of  Thomas  Mapes,  who  was  a  land- 
surveyor,  was  the  site  of  Mr.  Gilder  S.  Conk- 
lin's present  residence,  and  Barnabas  Wines's 
home-lot  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
near  the  present  residence  of  Elder  Edward 
Huntting.  Thomas  Terry's  was  south  of 
Wines's,  and  Philemon  Dickerson's  lot  was 
where  Elder  Hiram  J.  Terry's  residence  now 
stands.  Mr.  William  Y.  Fithian's  residence  is 
on  the  original  site  of  Thomas  Moore's  lot, 
and  Mr.  Moore's  son  Benjamin  bought  the 
land  and  probably  the  present  Case  House  at 
the  corner  of  the  main  street  and  the  north 
road  to  Greenport.  Henry  Case's  lot  includ- 
ed the  site  of  Mrs.  Beulah  Goldsmith's  pres- 
ent residence.  On  Charles  Glover's  original 
lot  now  stands  the  residence  built  by  J.  Wick- 
ham  Case,  Esq.,  at  present  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  Col,  Thomas  Carroll,  Register  of 


86  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Brooklyn.     On    the    western    branch    of  the 
Town  Creek,  or  Head  of  the  Harbor,  seems 
to  have  lived  Joseph  Youngs,  who  was,  like 
Charles  Glover,  a  mariner.     The  remains  of 
Glover's   wharf  were    recently    in   existence ; 
and  Joseph  Youngs  also  probably  built  one, 
for  he  was  a  wealthy  shipmaster.     Before  his 
settlement  in  Southold,  he  had  been  a6live,  as 
the  Master  of  the  "  Love,"  in  conveying  pas- 
sengers from  England  to  America.     He  ob- 
tained   lands    at    Salem,    Massachusetts,    in 
1639;  but  he  became  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Southold.     In  his  maritime  and  mercantile 
business,  he  was  in  the  next  generation  suc- 
ceeded by   Col.   Isaac   Arnold,   whose   store- 
house was  at  the  Head  of  the  Harbor.     He 
was  a  ship  owner;  was  appointed  by  the  Dutch 
to    be  schout  or  sheriff  of  the  Five  Eastern 
Towns  of  Long  Island  in    1673,  but  speedily 
resigned ;  was    one  of   the  patentees   of   the 
Town  in  1676;  and  from  that  time  until  1703 
a  judge   or  justice   of  the    peace,   being   the 
Judge  of  the  County  from  1693  to  1706.      He 
was  in  1691  appointed  one  of  the  Judges  of 
Jacob  Leisler,  the  leader  of  the  popular  party 
in  New  York  city,  who  was  condemned  and 
put  to  death  there  for  acting  as  Governor  of 


COL.  ARNOLD.  87 

the  Province  after  the  Revolution  in  England 
and  the  flight  of  King  James  II.  Col.  Arnold 
was  probably  the  earliest  slave  owner  in 
Southold.  He  died  November  7,  1706. 

Col.  John  Youngs  was  Col.  Arnold's  near- 
est neighbor.  In  the  second  generation  of 
this  place  he  was  the  foremost  man  in  South- 
old,  and  no  other  man  on  Long  Island  was  so 
prominent.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the 
Rev.  John  Youngs,  Minister  of  the  Word  and 
first  settler  of  Southold.  Col.  Youngs  lived 
in  the  house  which  he  built  on  the  land  di- 
reclly  north  of  Col.  Arnold.  It  is  now  owned 
and  occupied  as  his  residence  by  Mr.  Richard 
L.  Peters,  who  some  twenty-five  years  since 
took  down  the  northern  half  of  it,  and  made 
some  other  changes,  the  batter  to  adapt  it  to 
the  present  mode  of  living;  but  the  southern 
half  of  this  noble  two-story  double  residence 
stands  very  much  as  it  was  creeled  more  than 
two  hundred  years  ago.  Col.  Youngs  was 
born  about  1623,  and  diecl  on  the  i2th  of 
April,  1697.  He  early  became  the  master  of 
a  vessel,  and  was  active  in  the  hostilities 
against  the  Dutch,  and  when  he  was  thirty 
years  old  he  and  his  vessel  were  seized  at 
New  Amsterdam  (New  York).  Having  giv- 


88  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

en  bonds,  he  was  discharged  the  next  year, 
and  was  appointed  by  the  Commissioners  of 
the  United  Colonies  of  New  England  to 
cruise  with  his  vessel  in  the  North  Sea  (Long 
Island  Sound)  as  a  part  of  the  naval  force  of 
the  Union.  He  was  aclive  in  this  service  for 
two  years.  He  subsequently  represented 
Southold  at  different  times  in  the  General 
Court  of  the  New  Haven  Jurisdiction,  and 
afterwards  in  the  Legislature  of  the  Connect- 
icut Colony.  He  was  specially  sent  to  the 
latter  colony  in  1663  to  ask  aid  against  the 
Dutch.  The  next  year  he  collected  and  orga- 
nized a  force  of  Southold  militia  to  aid  in  the 
capture  of  New  Amsterdam  (New  York), 
and  the  following  year,  1665,  the  capture  hav- 
ing been  made,  he  was  one  of  the  representa- 
tives of  Southold  in  the  first  Assembly  at 
Hempstead,  under  the  Duke  of  York,  when 
the  Duke's  Laws  were  formally  adopted  for 
the  government  of  the  Province  of  the  Duke. 
In  1666  he  obtained  from  the  Indians  a  new 
deed  lor  the  territory  of  the  Town,  probably 
including  both  larger  grants  and  clearer  de- 
marcations than  had  been  obtained  in  1640. 

In     1680  he  became  the   Sheriff  of   York- 
shire,   which    included    all    Long  Island    and 


COL.    YOUNGS.  89 

Richmond  and  Westchester  counties.  Six 
years  later,  he  sold  to  John  Youngs,  Jr.,  the 
beautiful  property  known  as  Calves  Neck,  ly- 
ing between  the  Head  of  the  Harbor  and 
Dickerson's  Creek,  now  the  land  owned  and 
occupied  by  Col.  Thomas  S.  Lester,  on  which 
the  latter  built  his  present  residence.  Col. 
Youngs  was,  at  the  time  that  he  made  this  sale, 
a  member  of  the  Government  Council  of  the 
Province  of  New  York  under  Governor  Don- 
gan,  the  most  enlightened  and  far-seeing  of 
the  Royal  Governors  of  the  Province.  He 
was  a  Member  of  the  Government  Council 
nearly  every  year  from  1683  to  l&97- 

He,  as  well  as  his  nearest  neighbor,  Col. 
Arnold,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Slough- 
ter  one  of  the  Judges  for  the  trial  of  Jacob 
Leisler.  In  1693,  when  he  was  seventy  years 
of  age,  he  was  the  Colonel  of  a  militia  regi- 
ment of  nine  companies,  including  five  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  men.  A  few  months 
before  he  died,  he  made  his  will,  which  was 
proved  in  1698,  the  year  after  he  died  at  sev- 
enty-five years  of  age. 

The  home-lots  of  many  of  the  early  settlers 
can  now  be  indicated  as  we  have  seen ;  but  on 
account  of  the  loss  of  the  earliest  Records  our 


90  HISTORV    OF   SOUTMOLf). 

knowledge  of  the  history  from  1639  to  1651 
is  fragmentary.  After  this  date  the  Records 
of  the  Town  are  more  full  and  orderly.  They 
give  the  most  vivid  representation  of  the  com- 
mon and  faithful  life  of  the  Puritan  Plantation. 
They  show,  for  instance,  how,  as  the  area  of 
cultivation  increased,  lands  must  be  divided 
by  lot  among  the  freemen  and  common  own- 
ers; how  the  meets  and  bounds  of  the  divi- 
dends, or  divided  parts  of  the  land,  must  be 
recorded  with  their  situation,  east,  west,  north, 
south,  between  whom  and  in  what  place ;  how 
they  must  be  cleared  and  fenced  in  case  the 
timber  should  be  cut ;  how  each  man's  trees 
are  legally  protected  against  the  axe  of  every 
other  man ;  and  how  lots  and  fields  for  culti- 
vation must  be  inclosed.  For  example  : 

"Januarie  5th  1657.  The  neck  of  land 
called  the  calves  neck  lyinge  on  part  of  the 
south  side  of  the  Towne  shalbee  layed  out  and 
apportioned  to  every  man  his  due  proporcon 
thereof  by  the  first  of  March  next;  and  every 
inhabitant  takeing  upp  such  proporcon,  shall 
cleere  the  same,  as  they  usually  doe  theire 
planting  land,  within  a  yeare  after  the  laying 
out  thereof  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  the 
same  to  the  Townes  use." 


LAWS.  g\ 

Under  date  three  months  later  is  this  record: 
"  March  the  last  1658.  Itt  was  then  agreed 
upon  at  a  meeting  of  the  ffreemen  that  Thomas 
Mapes  shall  lay  out  the  Calves  neck,  every 
man  his  proportion,  as  it  shall  fall  by  lott  to 
him,  and  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  same, 
the  said  Thomas  shall  have  his  own  share  and 
portion,  next  at  the  reere  of  his  own  lot." 

The  Records  contain  the  laws  determining 
when  woods  may  be  fired  to  improve  the  pas- 
ture, and  what  privileges  should  be  given  for 
building  a  mill  on  the  point  of  Hallock's  Neck, 
near  where  Mr.  Jonathan  Barnes  Terry  built 
and  owns  the  present  wharf  and  landing  for 
steamers.  They  show  what  kind  of  a  ladder 
each  inhabitant  must  keep,  to  enable  him 
easily  and  rapidly  to  reach  the  top  of  his 
thatch-covered  house  in  case  of  fire ;  who 
should  be  free  from  training,  watching  and 
warding;  how  the  Recorder  must  keep  a  per- 
manent record  of  the  levies  and  payments  ot 
the  Town ;  how  the  Constable  must  be  paid 
for  gathering  Town  and  Minister's  rates  year 
by  year;  and  how  respect  for  rank,  wealth 
and  other  considerations  must  control  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Committees  appointed  irom  time 
to  time  to  seat  the  Meeting-  House:  that  is, 


92  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

to  assign  to  each  person  his  seat  in  it  accord- 
ing to  rank,  age,  dignity,  office,  &c. — which 
continued  to  be  done  as  lately  at  least  as 
A.  D.  1797.  They  also  make  known  in  what 
kind  of  meetings  of  the  freemen  the  constable, 
selectmen,  and  other  officers  were  annually 
elected  ;  how  any  particular  duties  must  be 
performed  by  those  to  whomsoever  the  select- 
men should  assign  them  ;  how  Sabbath-breach 
must  be  fined  seven  and  a  half  bits  of  nine 
pence  each ;  swearing,  one  and  a  half  bits — a 
second  offence,  three  shillings;  and  how  at 
length  this  sliding  scale  made  one  offender's 
fine  eight  shillings ;  for  the  people  of  those 
days,  though  not  knowing  how  to  exclude 
evil  entirely,  yet  well  knew  how  to  make  vice 
and  crime  pay  taxes,  and  not  press  as  a  heavy 
burden  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  virtuous. 
It  is  one  of  the  lost  arts.  The  early  Records 
also  disclose  how  slander  was  punished,  and 
how  the  place  was  kept  free  from  the  bodies 
and  odors  of  dead  animals;  though  I  find  no 
law  in  relation  to  the  removal  of  dead  fish 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

The  Records  make  it  plain  how  the  Town 
street  was  maintained  in  good  condition  and 
other  highways  kept  in  order;  how  proper 


COW    KEEPING.  93 

regulations  were  made  for  the  wharf  which 
John  Youngs,  mariner,  was  permitted  to  build 
at  the  Head  of  the  Harbor,  near  the  present 
residence  of  Mr.  Francis  Landon. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  local 
legislation,  as  well  as  an  illustration  of  the 
record  thereof: 

"July  1659.  It  was  then  in  like  manner 
ordered  that  from  the  publicacon  hereof  no 
working  cattle  bee  putt  to  foode  on  the  com'ons 
to  disturbe  the  cowes,  and  for  prevencon 
thereof,  they  are  to  go  under  the  hand  of  a 
sufficient  keeper,  and  in  case  any  doe  other- 
wise, they  are  thereby  lyable  to  pay  for  one 
ox  so  taken  every  tyme  1 2  d.  The  same  to 
continue  until  the'nd  of  Indean  harvest,  this 
yeare  and  ever)-  other  yeare  hereafter  from 
the  beginninge  of  cow  keepinge  till  the'nd  ot 
Indean  harvest  under  the  same  penalty  until 
a  pasture  be  provided  to  prevent  the  aforesaid 
inconveniency." 

The  Records  show  that  on  the  3d  of  April 
1679  the  Town  voted  a  site  tor  a- wind  mill  to 
Joshua  Horton,  Abraham  Corey  and  Daniel 
Terry,  the  mill  to  be  at  Pine  Neck,  upon  the 
hill  [now  the  property  of  Mr.  G.  Wells  Phillips] 
over  against  Peter  Dickerson's  house  [now 


94  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

the  site  of  Elder  Hiram  J.  Terry's  dwelling]. 
That  is,  the  mill  was  to  stand  where  the  wind 
mill  of  Mr.  Rene  Villefeu  stood  when  it  burn- 
ed down,  a  few  years  since. 

On  the  nth  of  March,  1667-8,  there  was 
an  adjustment  of  boundaries  made  with  the 
Town  of  Southampton.  See  Town  Records, 
Book  A,  page  135. 

On  the  I3th  of  March,  1670-1,  John  Budd 
sold  to  Isaac  Arnold  one-eighth  of  the  ketch 
"Thomas  and  John  "  for  forty-five  pounds  of 
current  pay.  Said  ketch  was  on  a  voyage  to 
Barbadoes.  The  burden  of  the  ship  was  rated 
at  forty-four  tons.  See  Book  A.  page  143. 
There  were  few  men  in  Southold  at  that  time 
who  severally  had  an  estate  worth  as  much  as 
this  sloop  of  forty-four  tons  burden.  Two 
years  later,  and  probably  at  this  date,  the  price 
of  merchandise  or  produce  often  used  in  barter 
was  in  Southold  as  follows  : 

Barrel  of  pork  ,£03-10-00 

Barrel  of  beef  02-05-00 

Bushel  of  summer  wheat     00-04-06 
Bushel  o!  pease  00-03-06 

The  Records  show  some  curious  transac- 
tions. Forinstance:  May  1 5th,  1671,  Edward 
Petty,  son-in-law  of  the  Minister,  bequeathed 


LOCAL   STATUTES.  95 

his  son  James,  aged  nine  years,  to  Thomas 
Moore,  Senior,  and  his  son  Joseph,  four  years 
of  age,  to  Nathaniel  Moore.  Book  A,  page 
146. 

The  Town  Records  also  make  known  what 
laws  were  enacted  for  the  preservation  and 
control  of  boats,  canoes  and  skiffs,  as  well  as 
for  pasturing  cattle,  sheep  and  goats  ;  re- 
straining hogs  ;  prohibiting  the  sale  or  gift  of 
dogs  to  Indians,  and  also  rum  and  arms  with- 
out an  order  from  a  magistrate  and  a  full  rec- 
ord of  the  whole  transaction.  They  also  show 
what  premiums  were  paid  for  killing  wolves, 
foxes  and  other  kind  of  "  varment,"  and  that 
these  premiums  year  by  year  made  a  conspic- 
uous figure  in  the  financial  estimates  and  ex- 
penses of  the  Town. 

The  local  enactments  on  record  also  pre- 
scribe the  way  in  which  the  ratables  must  be 
presented  to  the  proper  officer  by  each  inhab- 
itant, and  payment  be  made  within  fourteen 
days  after  the  publication  of  the  rate. 

The  laws  of  the  place  were  evidently  made 
by  and  for  a  pious,  virtuous,  prudent,  indus- 
trious and  forehanded  community.  They  state 
how  the  Montauk  Indians  must  be  protected, 


96  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

and  how  trespassers  with  guns  must  have 
their  guns  seized  and  forfeited. 

These  specimens  give  an  idea  of  the  local 
legislation  of  the  place  while  it  was  under  the 
New  Haven  Jurisdiction  from  1640  to  1662, 
and  while  church  members  only  were  voters, 
that  is,  while  the  Church  which  founded  the 
Town  also  governed  it.  The  earliest  election 
of  Townsmen  or  Selectmen  of  which  I  have 
found  a  record,  was  made  on  the  eleventh  day 
of  December,  1656.  At  that  time  "  William 
Wells,  Esq.,  Lieut.  John  Rudd,  Barnabas  Hor- 
ton,  William  Furrier,  and  Matthias  Corwin 
were  appointed  to  order  Town  affairs  accord- 
ing to  order  in  that  case  provided  until  the 
appointed  time  for  a  new  election." 

A  few  years  later  the  number  of  the  Select- 
men was  enlarged  so  as  to  include  the  Con- 
stable and  eight  chosen  men. 

How  carefully  they  guarded  their  religion 
and  their  liberty  and  their  morals  may  be 
seen  in  this  record,  namely: 

"  Januarie  igth  1654.  It  was  then  ordered 
and  agreed  that  no  inhabitant  in  Southold 
shall  lett  or  sett  or  sell  wholly  or  in  part  any 
of  his  accommodacons  therein  or  within  the 
utmost  bounds  thereof  to  any  person  or  per- 


SELF-  PROTECTION.  97 

sons  not  being  a  legall  townsman,  without  the 
approbation  of  the  ffreemen  in  a  public  meet- 
ing of  theires,  as  also  that  the  Towne  have 
the  tender  of  the  sale  of  house  or  land  and  a 
full  months  space  provided  to  return  an  an- 
swer." 

They  thought  the  open  and  unoccupied 
continent  broad  enough  for  the  habitation  of  all 
disturbers,  without  the  intrusion  of  unwel- 
come men  into  the  harmonious  communion  of 
these  faithful  worshippers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  And  who  shall  gainsay  their  right  to 
protect  their  own  freedom  and  prosperity  in 
the  midst  of  the  wilderness  to  which  they  had 
come  for  the  sake  of  pure  religion  and  civil 
liberty  ?  Happily,  they  knew  their  rights  and 
how  to  defend  them,  and  so  they  soon  made 
the  wilderness  glad  for  themselves  and  for 
their  posterity,  and  the  solitary  place  to  show 
its  fruitfulness  under  the  culture  of  a  pious 
and  prosperous  congregation. 

The  Highest  Authority  says,  that  "Man 
shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every 
word  of  God;"  but  History  shows  that  people 
and  nations,  even  in  Christian  lands,  rise  very 
slowly  and  gradually  to  the  standard  of  life 
and  conduct  which  God's  Word  requires, 
9 


98  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

There  is  not  only  the  depressing  power  of 
every  man's  evil  heart ;  but  there  are  also  the 
hindrances  of  the  old,  unjust  and  perhaps 
heathen  prejudices,  associations  and  institu- 
tions. Precedents  and  usages  and  customs, 
which  have  no  foundation  in  righteousness 
and  godliness,  often  obstruct  the  improve- 
ment of  the  people,  and  hinder  the  advance- 
ment of  virtue  and  piety  in  human  hearts  and 
human  society.  He  is  a  benefaclor  of  man- 
kind who  takes  these  impediments  out  of  the 
way,  and  opens  a  fair  field  for  the  progress  of 
men  in  knowledge,  comfort,  justice,  and 
heartiness  in  the  worship  of  God  and  service 
of  humanity. 

The  early  settlers  of  this  place  and  their 
associates  made  an  immense  step  in  this  di- 
rection when  they  determined  that  in  all  their 
civil  affairs,  to  which  it  was  applicable,  as  well 
as  in  their  religious  duties  and  worship,  they 
would  be  governed  by  the  Word  of  God. 

By  making  the  Bible  their  rule  of  judica- 
ture, in  preference  to  the  English  statutes,  or 
the  Roman  code,  they  gained  the  great  advan- 
tage of  a  body  of  laws  most  excellent  for 
many  other  qualities,  and  especially  for  mild- 
ness and  intelligibleness.  They  reduced  cap- 


ADVANTAGES  OF  THEIR  CODE.       99 

ital  offences  to  less  than  twenty  crimes.  How 
great  the  change  is  seen  in  this  fact,  that  even 
so  recently  as  the  time  when  Sir  Samuel 
Romilly,  about  1807,  began  his  efforts  to 
ameliorate  the  criminal  laws  of  England,  these 
laws  made  nearly  three  hundred  offences  pun- 
ishable with  death ;  and  no  longer  ago  than 
1785,  the  eminent  moralist,  William  Paley, 
thought  it  not  unworthy  to  employ  his  ut- 
most genius  and  skill  in  apologizing  for  this 
sanguinary  barbarity. 

Furthermore,  their  adoption  of  the  Bible 
for  the  rule  of  their  conduct  with  each  other 
in  their  civil  affairs,  gave  them  many  other 
benefits  besides  this  of  diminishing  the  num- 
ber and  the  severity  of  punishments.  For  in- 
stance, it  afforded  the  people  generally  a 
knowledge  of  the  more  important  laws.  For 
almost  every  man  in  Southold  doubtless  had 
the  Bible  in  his  house,  and  read  it,  or  heard 
it  read,  every  day ;  but  it  is  not  likely  that 
more  than  one  of  the  early  planters  here  had 
a  trustworthy  knowledge  of  the  statute  laws 
of  England.  They  might,  while  living  under 
these  statutes,  commit  any  one  of  a  hundred 
capital  offences  without  knowing  that  it  was 
such  a  crime ;  but  with  the  Bible  in  their 


1OO  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD, 

hands,  and  heads  and  hearts,  they  were  not 
likely  to  be  guilty  of  idolatry,  witchcraft, 
blasphemy,  murder,  beastiality,  sodomy,  adul- 
tery, incest,  rape,  man-stealing,  false  witness 
in  a  capital  case,  treason,  incorrigible  dis- 
obedience to  parents,  incorrigible  burglary  or 
theft,  and  high-handed  and  presumptuous  pro- 
fanation of  the  Sabbath.  Most  certainly  they 
were  not  likely  to  commit  these  offences 
through  ignorance  of  their  evil  character;  yet 
it  seems  that  these  fifteen  acls  of  wickedness 
and  vice  are  the  only  offences  which  the  laws 
of  the  Bible  ever  regarded  as  capital  crimes. 
What  a  contrast  between  the  Bible's  fifteen 
and  the  English  statutes'  three  hundred ! 

How  carefully  these  Puritan  Christians 
guarded  the  rights  and  promoted  the  welfare 
of  men  may  be  seen  in  what  may  be  called 
the  Bill  of  Rights,  which  they  adopted  for  the 
protection  ot  every  man  within  the  bounds 
of  the  Jurisdiction.  This  law  declares,  that 
"  No  man's  life  shall  be  taken  away,  no  man's 
honor  or  good  name  shall  be  stained,  no  man's 
person  shall  be  imprisoned,  banished,  or  other- 
wise punished,  no  man  shall  be  deprived  of 
his  wife  or  children,  no  man's  goods  or  estate 
shall  be  taken  from  him  under  color  of  law  or 


EDUCATION.  fOI 

countenance  ot  authority,  unless  it  be  by  vir- 
tue or  equity  ot  some  express  law  of  this  jur- 
isdiction, established  by  the  General  Court, 
and  sufficiently  published,  or  tor  want  of  a 
law  in  any  particular  case,  by  the  word  of 
God.  No  man  shall  be  put  to  death,  for  any 
offence,  without  the  testimony  of  two  wit- 
nesses at  least,  or  that  which  is  equivalent 
thereto." 

Public  Education  is  one  of  three  or  four 
main  interests  of  the  people  which  will  prob- 
ably decide  the  next  Presidential  election  in 
the  United  States,  and  a  ft  eel  the  history  of 
the  whole  country  for  good  or  evil  during 
many  years  to  come.  On  this  subject,  we 
may  all  go  to  school  to  the  first  planters  ot 
Southold  and  their  associates,  and  learn  from 
them  sonic  wise  and  Christian  lessons  to 
guide  our  conduct  in  these,  days.  Their  lib- 
eral and  enlightened  character  is  held  lorth  in 
the  fact,  that  all  parents  and  masters  were  re- 
quired to  improve  such  means  "that  all  their 
children  and'apprentices,  as  they  grow  capa- 
ble, might  through  God's  blessing  attain  at 
least  so  much  as  to  be  able  duly  to  read  the 
Scriptures,  and  other  good  and  profitable  print- 
ed books  in  the  English  tongue,  being  their 


IO2  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOI.f). 

native  language ;  and,  in  some  competent 
measure,  to  understand  the  main  grounds  and 
principles  of  Christian  Religion  necessary  to 
salvation  ;  and  to  give  a  due  answer  to  such 
plain  and  ordinary  questions  as  might,  by 
proper  persons,  be  propounded  concerning 
the  same."  If  parents  and  masters  failed  to 
do  this,  their  children  and  apprentices  were 
taken  from  them  and  committed  to  persons 
who  would  be  faithful  to  the  parents'  or  the 
masters'  trust,  as  we  do  now  in  the  case  of  lit- 
tle neglected  vagrants,  and  in  the  case  of  chil- 
dren whose  parents  put  them  prematurely  or 
excessively  into  factories  to  perform  unhealthy 
tasks. 

Furthermore,  the  founders  of  this  place  urge 
their  posterity  to  the  performance  of  duty  by 
their  zeal  and  labor  for  the  higher  and  spirit- 
ual welfare  and  education  of  the  people.  They 
had  a  law  to  this  effect :  The  word  of  God,  as 
it  is  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  is  a 
pure  and  precious  light,  by  God  in  his  free 
and  rich  grace  given  to  his  people,  to  guide 
and  direct  them  in  safe  paths  to  everlasting- 
peace.  The  preaching  of  the  same  in  a  way 
of  due  exposition  and  application,  by  such  as 
God  doth  furnish  and  send,  is,  through  the 


SCRIPTURAL    WORSHIP.  10^ 

presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
chief  ordinary  means  appointed  of  God  for 
conversion,  edification  and  salvation.  None 
shall  behave  himself  contemptuously  toward 
the  word  preached,  or  any  minister  thereof, 
called  and  faithfully  dispensing  the  same,  in 
any  congregation.  Every  person,  according 
to  the  mind  of  God,  shall  duly  resort  and  at- 
tend thereunto  upon  the  Lord's  days,  at  least, 
and  also  upon  days  of  public  fasting  and 
thanksgiving. 

Provision  was  also  made  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  additional  churches  wherever  needful, 
and  also  that  the  ordinances  of  Christ  might 
be  upheld,  and  a  due  maintenance  of  the  min- 
istry continued,  according  to  the  rule  :  "  Let 
him  that  is  taught  in  the  word  communicate 

o 

unto  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good  things." 
Should  this  fail  to  be  done  in  a  free  way  with- 
out rating,  then  every  inhabitant  must  be  as- 
sessed according  to  his  visible  estate,  with  clue 
moderation,  and  in  equal  proportion  with  his 
neighbors. 

Under  this  law  an  interesting  case  arose  in 
the  early  history  of  the  Town.  On  the  6th  of 
October,  1657,  the  Court  of  Plymouth,  New 
England,  banished  Humphrey  Norton.  He 


IO4  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLE); 

came  hither :  but  on  account  of  his  gross  mis- 
conduct in  Southold  he  was  soon  after  sent 
away  from  this  place  to  New  Haven.  His 
trial  commenced  there  on  the  loth  of  March, 
1657,  old  style — 1658  new  style. 
The  charges  preferred  against  him  were  : 

1.  That  he  hath  grievously  and  in  manifold 
wise  traduced,  slandered  and   reproached   Mr. 
Youngs,  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Southold,  in 
his  good   name  and  the  honor  due  to  him  for 
his   work's   sake,    together   with    his    ministry 
and  all  our  ministers  and  ordinances. 

2.  That  he  hath  endeavored   to  seduce  the 
people   from   their  due   attendance   upon    the 
ministry  and   the   sound  doctrines  of  our  re- 
ligion settled  in  this  colony. 

3.  That  he  hath  endeavored  to  spread  sun- 
dry heretical   opinions;    and   that  |  too  |  under 
expressions  which    hold    torth    some  degree  ol 
blasphemy,  and    to   corrupt    the    minds   of    the 
people  therein. 

4.  That    he    hath    endeavored    to    vilify   or 
nullify    the    just    authority   of   the    magistracy 
and  government  here  settled. 

5.  That   in   all   these    miscarriages    he   hath 
endeavored  to  disturb  the  peace  of  this  juris- 
diction. 

( )n  these   charges,  he  was   tried   and   found 
guilt)'  ;    sentenced   to   pay  ten   pounds  ;   to  be 


RECORDS  REQUIRED,  105 

otherwise  punished  ;    and  excluded  from  the 
Jurisdiction. 

The  founders  of  Southold  were  far  in  ad- 
vance of  their  age  in  respect  to  public  records. 
At  the  present  time,  soldiers  and  sailors  only 
can  make  noncupative  wills.  The  sale  of 
real  estate  cannot  be  made  without  a  written 
deed  and  a  record  of  that  deed  in  the  proper 
office.  The  sale  of  a  large  amount  of  per- 
sonal property  cannot  be  made  without  a  writ- 
ten agreement,  or  the  delivery  of  the  goods 
by  the  seller  to  the  buyer  in  whole  or  in  part. 
But  there  was  no  requirement  of  this  kind  in 
England  when  Southold  was  settled.  Real 
estate  could  be  sold  there,  and  any  man  could 
make  his  will,  without  a  scrap  of  writing,  as 
lately  as  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  It  is  there- 
fore remarkable  that  the  Jurisdiction  to  which 
Southold  freely  joined  itself  and  firmly  ad- 
hered, required  every  bargain,  sale,  grant, 
conveyance,  mortgage  of  any  house,  land, 
rent,  or  other  hereditament,  to  be  acknow- 
ledged before  some  court  or  magistrate,  and 
recorded  by  the  proper  officer  in  a  book  kept 
for  the  purpose.  We  should  moreover  be 
grateful,  that  it  was  also  ordered,  that  every 
birth,  marriage  and  death  should  be  recorded 


IO6  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

within  a  month  after  the  event;  and  every 
man  had  liberty  to  record,  in  the  public  reg- 
ister of  any  court,  any  testimony  given  upon 
oath  in  the  same  court,  or  before  two  magis- 
trates, or  any  deed  or  evidence  legally  con- 
firmed, there  to  remain  in  perpetuam  r&i 
memoriavi.  Every  inhabitant  had  liberty  to 
search  and  view  any  such  public  records  or 
registers,  and  to  have  a  copy  thereof,  attested 
by  the  proper  officer,  on  paying  the  due  fee. 
It  was  also  a  law  that  every  trial  or  legal  pro- 
ceeding should  be  briefly  and  distinctly  re- 
corded, the  better  to  prevent  alter  mistakes 
and  other  inconveniences. 

The  Christian  men  who  came  hither  into 
the  wilderness  for  Religion,  had  no  mean  and 
narrow  views  of  the  nature  and  requirements 
of  religion.  It  was,  for  example,  a  part  ol 
their  religion  to  make  a  better  distribution  of 
property  among  heirs  at  law  than  had  been 
previously  made.  When  a  man  died  without 
a  will,  they  gave  at  least  one-third  of  his  es- 
tate to  his  widow,  it  he  left  one,  and  two- 
thirds,  at  most,  to  the  children,  the  eldest  son 
taking  a  double  portion,  unless  otherwise  or- 
dered by  the  court.  When  the  heirs  were  a 
widow  and  one  child,  each  took  a  third,  and 


DEALINGS    WITH    INDIANS.  1 07 

the  other  third  was  divided  between  them  in 
whatever  parts  the  court  deemed  best.  But 
the  scriptural  causes  for  divorce  were  allowed. 
The  laws  in  respect  to  the  neighboring 
heathen  show  a  kindly  and  generous  Christian 
disposition ;  and  this,  too,  though  the  pres- 
ence of  the  savages  was  a  great  inconvenience 
in  many  ways.  No  private  person  was  allow- 
ed to  purchase  or  truck  any  land  of  any  Indian 
on  the  Island.  The  people  in  common  paid 
the  Indians  for  every  acre  of  land  which  they 
occupied,  and  all  private  dealing  with  the  red 
men  in  real  estate  was  strictly  forbidden.  No 
one  could  sell  implements  of  war  to  them  with- 
out an  order  of  court  for  a  certain  quantity 
at  a  specific  time  and  on  plain  terms;  and  a 
full  record  of  every  such  trade,  with  all  the 
particulars,  must  be  made  by  the  magistrate 
who  gave  the  leave  to  trade.  If  any  one  took 
a  pawn  or  pledge  of  any  Indian,  as  security 
for  anything  sold  or  lent,  he  could  not  sell 
the  pawn  without  the  consent  of  the  Indian  or 
an  order  of  the  court.  In  all  dealings  with 
the  heathen,  intoxicating  drinks  were  put  on 
the  same  footing  with  weapons  of  war.  The 
fathers  knew  that  rum  was  the  leader  in  riot, 
robbery,  revenge  and  murder, 


IO8  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

But  all  their  prudence  and  precautions  did 
not  save  them  from  the  expense  of  much  time 
and  money,  in  order  to  defend  themselves,  es- 
pecially in  times  of  national  war  between 
Dutch  and  English.  They  found  it  needful 
to  require  every  man  from  sixteen  to  sixty 
years  of  age  to  have  a  good  serviceable  gun, 
always  kept  fit  in  every  way  for  use,  with  all 
the  needful  accoutrements,  including  a  good 
sword  and  plenty  of  ammunition.  It  was  the 
duty  of  the  chief  military  officer  of  the  Town 
to  see  that  every  man  was  well  furnished  with 
arms,  and  that  every  man  trained  at  least  six 
days  each  year.  One  fourth  of  the  whole 
number  were  required  to  attend  public  wor- 
ship fully  armed  every  Lord's  Day;  and  such 
as  could  come,  on  Lecture  Days  ;  to  be  at  the 
meeting  house  at  latest  before  the  second 
drum  had  left  beating,  with  their  arms  com- 
plete, their  guns  ready  charged,  their  match 
for  their  match-lock  guns,  and  flints  ready  fit- 
ted to  their  fire-lock  guns,  with  shot  and  pow- 
der for  at  least  five  shots,  beside  the  charge 
in  their  guns.  The  sentinel  also,  and  they 
that  walk  the  round,  were  required  to  have 
their  matches  lighted  during  the  time  of  the 
public  worship,  ii  their  guns  were  to  be  fired 


HONOR    DUE    TO    PARENTS.  IOQ 

with  matches  and  not  with  flint  locks.  Dur- 
ing the  religious  service  in  the  church  building, 
their  guns  were  placed  in  racks  standing  near 
the  door.  One  of  these  racks,  used  here  two 
hundred  years  since,  has  been  presented  to 
the  Long  Island  Historical  Society,  and  may 
be  seen  among  its  choicest  antiquarian  pos- 
sessions. 

It  was  under  these  and  other  heavy  burdens, 
that  the  fathers  worshipped  here.  It  was  not 
without  faith,  and  fortitude,  and  prayer,  and 
peril,  that  they  prepared  this  place  for  our 
comfort  and  enjoyment.  But  there  are  some 
children  who  care  very  little  for  their  parents' 
toils  in  their  behalf,  or  even  for  their  parents 
themselves.  They  are  only  eager  to  please 
and  gratify  their  own  selfishness  with  what 
their  parents  have  earned  and  given  them. 
But  such  meanness  and  baseness  will  be  far 
from  every  noble  soul ;  and  honor  should  be 
given  to  the  fathers,  that  the  land  which  they 
made  productive  and  attractive,  and  fruitful 
for  the  sustenance  and  delight  of  their  poster- 
ity, may  remain  to  support  and  bless  their 
children  for  ever.  If  we  reproach  those  who 
are  ungrateful  and  negligent  towards  their 
natural  parents,  how  much  more  should  we 

10 


I  IO  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

reproach  ourselves  unless  we  show  gratitude 
and  honor  towards  our  spiritual  ancestors ! 

The  holiest  motives  had  impelled  them  to 
flee  from  oppression,  and  to  acquire  liberty 
and  purity  of  religion  for  themselves  and  their 
children,  no  matter  at  what  cost  of  hardships 
and  suffering,  nor  how  carefully  they  must 
guard  the  boon.  For  the  sake  of  so  great  a 
good,  they  were  determined  to  be  unceasingly 
vigilant,  and  to  close  every  avenue  whereby 
their  foes  might  enter  and  gain  a  foothold 
among  them.  That  their  precautions  and 
watchfulness  were  judicious,  and  even  neces- 
sary, is  all  too  evident.  Here  are,  for  instance, 
the  Private  Instructions  which  Charles  II. 
gave,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1664,  to  Nichols, 
Carr,  Cartwright,  and  Maverick,  Commission- 
ers to  subdue  the  Dutch,  to  establish  bounda- 
ries, and  to  transact  other  important  matters 
in  America.  Among  other  equally  detestable 
things,  the  king  says:  "Nobody  can  doubt 
but  that  we  could  look  upon  it  as  the  great- 
est blessing  God  Almighty  can  confer  upon 
us  in  this  world  that  He  would  reduce  all  our 
subjects  in  all  our  dominions  to  one  faith  and 
one  way  of  worship  with  us." 

This  statement  of  the  monarch  accords  with 


CHARLES  II.  Ill 

the  general  character  of  this  voluptuous  king. 
For,  "  Sworn  to  maintain  Protestantism,  he 
signed  a  secret  treaty  at  Dover  by  which  he 
pledged  himself  to  make  public  profession  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion,"  and  when  he 
was  almost  in  the  article  of  death,  he  declared 
himself  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  received  ex- 
treme unclion,  and  the  last  rites  of  the  papal 
church,  at  the  hands  of  a  proscribed  priest, 
who  was  introduced  by  a  secret  passage,  in 
disguise,  into  the  king's  bed-chamber.  See 
New  American  Cyclopedia,  Vol.  4,  p.  729. 
His  desire  to  make  all  his  subjects  fully  con- 
form to  his  own  faith  and  worship  also  accords 
with  the  St.  Bartholomew's  fraud  and  infamy 
twenty  months  previous  to  his  sending  the 
Commissioners,  and  many  other  acls  of  op- 
pression at  the  time,  whereby  the  people  were 
deprived  of  the  services  of  thousands  of  the 
best  and  purest  Christian  Ministers,  who  were 
compelled  to  leave  their  homes  and  churches, 
because  they  could  not  with  good  conscience 
obey  the  new  and  wicked  laws.  The  King, 
through  his  Secretary  of  State,  in  his  Private 
Instructions  to  the  Commissioners,  speaks  of 
the  Puritans  in  the  New  World  as  "  persons 
who  separated  themselves  from  their  own 


I  I  2  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

country,  and  the  religion  established,  princi- 
pally (if  not  only)  that  they  might  enjoy  an- 
other way  of  worship,  presented  or  declared 
unto  them  by  their  own  consciences."  See 
Brodhead's  New  York  Documents,  Vol.  3, 

P-  59- 

To  the  same  class  of  conscientious  and  faith- 
ful ministers,  the  Rev.  John  Youngs  undoubt- 
edly belonged.  He  came  here  to  minister 
the  word  of  God  free  from  the  control  of  un- 
godly and  despotic  men,  and  to  enjoy  with 
devout  Christians  of  the  same  faith  the  liberty 
of  the  gospel  in  purity  and  peace.  He  and 
his  people  did  not  come  without  a  purpose 
into  a  country  whose  only  inhabitants  were  a 
lew  wild  and  roaming  savages.  They  did 
not  come  into  such  a  country  with  the  inten- 
tion of  oppressing,  injuring,  or  even  disturb- 
ing any  human  being.  They  came  to  find  a 
shelter  from  wrong,  and  to  provide  a  peaceful 
home  for  those  who  were  like-minded  with 
themselves.  To  Mr.  Youngs,  as  the  leader 
of  the  advance  guard,  his  home-lot  was  as- 
signed near  the  centre  of  the  Town,  and  con- 
venient to  the  church  edifice,  which  was  built 
in  the  central  square  and  on  the  highest 
ground  of  the  settlement,  as  well  as  near  the 


FIRST  PASTOR'S  DEATH.  113 

homes  of  the  principal  citizens.  His  posses- 
sions were  ample,  in  comparison  with  those  of 
his  neighbors  and  parishioners.  His  name, 
as  we  have  seen,  with  the  description  of  his 
real  estate,  is  entered  first  of  all  in  the  Rec- 
ords of  the  Town, 

Shortly  before  his  death,  he  conveyed  most 
of  his  lands  to  his  children.  His  library  at 
the  time  of  his  death  wTas  nearly  half  as  valu- 
able as  all  his  household  furniture,  and  one 
sixth  as  valuable  as  his  dwelling'  house  and 
lands. 

He  died  February  24,  1672,  of  the  new 
style.  It  would  seem  that  his  venerable  friend, 
the  good  Barnabas  Horton,  and  the  saintly 
Deacon  Barnabas  Wines,  as  \vell  as  his  well 
beloved  wife,  Mary,  and  we  may  suppose 
some  or  all  of  his  children,  were  with  him  at 
or  near  his  death.  One  faithful  friend,  his 
nearest  neighbor  for  thirty  previous  years, 
William  Wells,  Esq.,  the  Sheriff  of  Suffolk 
county,  could  not  be  present,  though  he  had 
long  held  his  Pastor  in  high  regard,  as  the 
beautiful  Records  which  he  has  left  us  most 
thoroughly  attest.  Mr.  Wells  departed  this 
life  three  months  and  eleven  days  before  the 
minister  died.  What  a  void  was  made  in 


I  14  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Southold  by  the  death  of  these  two  men  in 
the  same  winter !  Death  has  never  made 
here,  in  so  brief  a  time  as  one  winter,  another 
bereavement  relatively  so  great. 

The  first  Pastor's  grave  was  made  near  the 
church  edifice,  and  on  the  sunny  side  of  it. 
The  wall  which  surrounds  the  grave  is  sub- 
stantial, and  supports  a  massive  horizontal 
slab,  which  bears  the  following  inscription  : 

MR     IOHN    YONGS    MINISTER   OF   THE    WORD   AND    FIRST   SETLER 
OF  THE   CHVRCH    OF   CHRIST   IN    SOVTH  HOVLD   ON    LONG    ISLAND 
DECEASED  THE    24   OF   FEBRVARY   IN    THE   YEARE 
OF   OVR   LORD    167*    AND   OF  HIS   AGE   74 

HERE   LIES   THE    MAN    WHOSE   DOCTRINE    LIFE    WELL   KNOWEN 
DID   SHEW    HE   SOVGHT   GRISTS    HONOVR    NOT    HIS   OWEN 
IN   WEAKNES   SOWN   IN    POWER    RAISD   SHALL  BE 
BY   CHRIST    FROM    DEATH   TO    LIFE    ETERNALLY 


FIRST    PASTORS     ESTATE,  115 

The  following  copy  of  legal  papers  presents 
a  picture  of  the  early  times  in  Southold : 
"The  Inventory  of  pastr  Youngs  estate. 
In  wooden  ware  &  2  old  bedsteads,  J     •£.  s.  d. 
&  old  cheist  &  3  chayers  2  tables   -  02-00-00 
&  a  forme  &  boute  &  tray  J 

2  kettles  2  potts  hake  &  pot  hook  03-00-00 
in  peuter  02-00-00 

2  old  beds  &  boulsters   blankets 

one  rugg  &  curtins  &  valancings  04-00-00 
lyning  &  sheets  &  pillobans  02-10-00 

5  oxen  &  one  tame  steire  &  one  cow 

6  2   ot    2  year  old,  and  one  half 

steere  of  one  yearling  27-10-00 

one  horse  03-00-00 

24  sheepe  12-00-00 

3  small  swine  02-00-00 
3  chaines  plow  yrons  &  cart  yrons  04-00-00 
house  and  land  30-00-00 
old  books  by  Mr.  Hubard  prised  at  05-00-00 


£  97-00-00 
BARNABAS  WINDS 
JOHN  CURWIN 
JOSHUA  HORTOX 
JACOB  CORK 

A  true  copy  pr  me  Henry  Pierson,  Clark." 
"At  a  Court  of  Sessions   held  in   Southold 
for  ye  East  riding  of  Yorkshire  on  Long  Is- 
land by  his    Maj'ties   authority   in  ye  eight  & 
twenty   yeare   of  ye   reign   of 


tl6  JJI  STORY    OF    SOUTfrOI.D. 

Lord  Charles  ye  second  by  ye  grace  of  God 
of  great  Brittaine  France  &  Ireland  King  De- 
fender of  ye  faith  &c  &  in  ye  yeare  of  our 
Lord  God   1675,     Whereas    an   Inventory  of 
the  effecls  of  Mr.  John  Yongs  past :  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  at  Southold    deceased  was 
presented   to   ye   Court   as   also   affidavit  was 
made  by  Mr.   Barnabas  Wines  &  Mr.  Barna- 
bas Horton,  makeing  faith  yt  ye  sd  Mr.  John 
Yongs  at  or  nere  his  death  left  all  his  estate 
to   ye   sole   dispose    of   his    wife    Mris    Mary 
Yongs  also   shee  makeing  sute   to   ye   Court 
for  power  to  administer  of  ye  sd    estate,  & 
having  put  in  sufficient  standing  security  to 
ye  Court  according  to  law,  in  yt  behalf :  These 
are  to  certifie  all  whome  it  may  concerne,  yt 
ye  sd  Mris  Mary  Yongs,  weidow  &  relict  of 
him  ye  sd  Mr.  John  Yongs  deceased  is  by  ye 
sd  Court  admited  &  confirmed  to  all  intents 
&  purposes  Administratrix  of  all  &  singular 
ye  goods  &  chatties  &  whatsoever  estate  or 
Invent  he  ye  sd  Mr.  John  Yongs  died  seased 
off,  or  any  maner  of  way,  rightly  appertaineing 
to  him  &  ye  sd  Mris  Mary  Yongs  hath  hereby 
full  power  as  administratrix  to  despose  of  ye  sd 
estate  or  any  p'rcill  therof,  as  shee  hath  occa- 
tion  and  ye  laws  of  this  Government  alloweth. 
In  ye  name  &  by  order  of  ye  Court  pr  me 
Henry  Person  Clark  of  ye  Session  of  ye 
East  riding. 

The  Rev.  John  Youngs  had  six  children  by 


FIRST    PASTORS    CHILDREN.  I  17 

his  first  wife  Anne,  whose  names  have  already- 
been  given,  namely  John,  Thomas,  Anne, 
Rachel,  Mary,  and  Joseph.  These  were  born 
in  England.  He  subsequently  married  a  sec- 
ond wife,  Mary,  who  was  probably  a  widow 
when  he  married  her.  She  survived  him, 
and  became  by  his  desire  the  sole  administra- 
trix of  his  estate,  as  we  have  the  legal  records 
to  attest.  Besides  the  six  elder  children,  he 
had  a  son  Benjamin,  who  was  the  eldest  by 
his  second  wife,  perhaps  a  son  Samuel,  and 
certainly  a  spn  Christopher,  his  youngest  son. 
The  Rev.  John  Youngs  was  undoubtedly  a 
student  and  teacher  of  the  Pauline  type  of 
theology,  though  he  seems  to  have  been 
closely  allied  in  disposition  to  that  disciple 
whose  name  he  bore,  and  whom  our  Lord 
specially  loved.  The  first  Southold  Pastor,  in 
common  with  many  Ministers  and  other 
Christians  of  his  age,  in  New  England  and  else- 
where, greatly  felt  the  influence  of  an  able 
writer  of  the  previous  generation,  the  Rev. 
William  Perkins,  who  "  wrote  in  a  much  bet- 
ter style  than  was  usual  in  his  time,"  so  that 
his  writings  were  soon  translated  into  German, 
Dutch,  French,  Spanish,  Italian  and  Latin. 
Our  first  Pastor  owned  and  used  the  copy  of 


Il8  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Perkins's  Works  which  was  conveyed  by  a 
citizen  of  this  place  to  Mr.  Thomas  R.  Trow- 
bridge,  of  New  Haven,  and  presented  by  this 
gentleman  to  the  New  Haven  Colony  Histor- 
ical Society,  for  preservation  among  its  treas- 
ures. It  was  printed  in  London,  by  the  print- 
er to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  in  1616, 
eleven  years  after  the  author's  death.  There 
is  a  declaration  in  the  Records  of  the  First 
Church  of  Southold,  made  in  the  earlier  half  of 
its  history,  that  this  church  had  been  "  Calvin- 
istical  time  out  of  mind."  This  was  the  sys- 
tem of  Perkins,  and  doubtless  it  was  this  system 
that  our  first  Pastor  taught,  and  herein  he  has 
been  followed  by  all  his  successors  in  the  pas- 
toral care  of  the  First  Church. 

A  few  feet  north  of  the  grave  of  the  first 
Pastor  is  that  of  his  eldest  and  most  eminent 
son,  Col.  John  Youngs,  and  immediately 
south  of  it  is  that  of  his  grandson  Benjamin, 
who  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  the  Town. 

Several  yards  westward  are  the  graves  of 
two  others  of  the  earliest  and  most  intelligent, 
eminent  and  wealthy  settlers,  namely  :  William 
Wells,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Barnabas  Horton,  each 
marked  by  a  massive  horizontal  tomb-stone. 


TOMB    OF   WILLfAM  WELLS.  I  2  I 

For  the  use  of  the  engraving  of  the  tomb- 
stone of  William  Wells,  Esq.,  the  most  grate- 
ful acknowlegments  are  due  to  the  Rev. 
Charles  Wells  Hayes,  Rector  of  Saint  Peter's 
Church,  Westfield,  New  York,  and  to  his 
brother,  Mr.  Robert  P.  Hayes,  of  Buffalo, 
Auditor  of  the  U.  S.  Express  Company,  these 
gentlemen  being  the  owners  of  the  copyright 
of  the  splendid  volume  by  the  former,  entitled 
"William  Wells  of  Southold  and  his  Descend- 
ants." The  accomplished  author  of  this  beau- 
tiful and  richly  illustrated  Genealogy  says, 
page  31  : 

"  In  the  old  Burial  Ground  of  Southold,  near 
the  edifice  (Presbyterian)  which  occupies  the  site 
of  the  first  meeting  house,  and  not  more  than  ten 
or  twelve  yards  from  the  west  end  of  the  Ceme- 
tery, is  the  tomb  of  William  Wells,  a  substantial 
structure  of  brick  and  covered  with  cement,  and 
now  (1876)  after  the  lapse  of  two  centuries,  in 
perfect  preservation,  thanks  to  the  reverent  care 
of  his  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation,  the  late 
William  H.  Wells,  of  Southold.  The  top  of  the 
tomb  is  a  single  slab  of  dark-brown  stone,  five 
feet  by  two  and  a  half,  and  four  or  five  inches  in 
thickness,  completely  filled  by  the  curious  inscrip- 
tion, a  fac-simile  of  which  is  here  given,  photo- 
graphed from  the  rubbing  taken  by  me  Oct.  13, 

1875." 
ii 


122  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Barnabas  Horton  was  often  a  member  of  the 
General  Court  for  the  Jurisdiction — the  Legis- 
lature of  the  Colony.  His  tomb-stone  of  blue 
slate  was  imported  from  Mouseley,  Leicester- 
shire, England,  the  place  of  his  birth.  Mr. 
Theodore  K.  Horton,  of  Brooklyn,  when  he 
visited  Mouseley,  was  much  interested  to  find 
the  tomb-stones  in  the  cemetery  there  made 
of  the  same  blue  slate  that  marks  the  grave 
and  attests  the  godly  character  of  his  first  an- 
cestor in  America.  Near  the  graves  of  Wells 
and  Horton  is  the  broad  and  heavy  horizontal 
tomb-stone  of  John  Conklyne,  and  not  far 
away  stands  a  large  marble  monument  which 
was  set  up  in  the  autumn  of  1851  by  the  Hon. 
Mahlon  Dickerson,  of  New  Jersey,  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  in  President  Jackson's  Cabinet,  to 
commemorate  Peter  Dickerson  and  his  sons,  of 
Southold,  from  whom  have  descended  not  only 
Mahlon  and  his  brother  Philemon  Dickerson, 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  but 
also  the  Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  United 
States  Senator  from  New  York,  as  well  as  oth- 
er conspicuous  citizens  of  our  country  bearing 
the  name  of  Dickerson  or  Dickinson. 

The  Clevelands  came  later.     See  "  Geneal- 
ogy of  Benjamin  Cleveland,  Chicago,  1879." 


THE    CEMETERY. 

The  original  cemetery  here  might  well  be 
called  God's  acre,  for  it  contained  about  one 
acre  of  land  and  was  devoted  to  the  holiest 
purposes.  It  was  the  site  of  the  Meeting 
House  for  public  worship,  as  well  as  the  hal- 
lowed place  for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  Used 
by  men  whose  chief  object  was  religion,  the 
Meeting  House  and  the  place  of  burial  were 
not  desecrated  by  their  use  for  any  of  the 
more  common  and  inferior  purposes  of  the 
people.  The  cemetery,  with  the  church  edi- 
fice near  its  northeast  corner,  was  the  centre 
of  the  village,  as  well  as  the  highest  ground  in 
the  settlement.  It  was  on  the  south  side  ot 
the  main  street.  There  was  formerly  a  street 
south  of  the  burying  ground,  or  central  square, 
which  was  early  devoted  to  the  public  uses  of 
worship  and  burial.  This  original  public 
grave  yard  is  now  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
present  Church  cemetery,  which  has  been  en- 
larged from  time  to  time  until  it  now  includes 
some  eight  acres,  about  five  acres  having  been 
added  within  the  last  thirty  years. 

Near  the  northeast  corner  of  this  acre  the 
first  settlers  built  the  first  church  edifice. 
The  site  is  now  marked  by  a  locust  post 
standing  in  a  depression  of  the  soil  two  or 


124  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

three  feet  deep.  This  depression  indicates 
the  place  of  a  subterranean  cell  which  was 
made  when  the  edifice  was  converted  into  a 
prison,  in  1684.  Th*5  conspicuous  indication 
in  the  very  surface  of  the  ground  pointing  out 
the  site  of  the  first  Meeting  House,  and  of 
the  County  Prison  that  once  stood  in  this 
place,  and  in  use  here  for  many  years,  has 
lost  half  its  depth  within  a  score  of  years,  and 
is  likely  to  disappear  entirely  at  no  distant 
day. 

It  is  not  known  that  any  description  of  the 
first  Church  edifice  is  in  existence.  Possibly 
it  was  built  of  logs,  hewn  and  squared ;  but 
most  probably  it  was  a  frame  structure  with 
windows  of  leaden  sash  and  diamond  glass,  or 
merely  wooden  shutters  without  any  glass  in 
the  windows.  In  connection  with  the  second 
edifice,  there  is  mention  in  the  Town  Records 
of  "  cedar  windows,"  which  intimates  that  the 
sash  of  the  first  Meeting  House  was  made  of 
lead,  if  it  contained  any  sash  and  glass  at  all. 
The  first  house  must  have  been  a  substantial 
building.  It  was  the  place  for  all  public  meet- 
ings of  every  kind  which  Puritan  Christians 
desired  to  hold  in  order  to  promote  the  gen- 
eral welfare,  safety,  comfort  and  prosperity  of 


THE    OLD    GRAVE-YARD.  125 

the  Town.  All  the  interests  of  the  people  for 
time  and  for  eternity,  for  earth  and  heaven, 
were  faithfully  considered  in  it ;  for  it  was 
both  their  temple  of  worship  and  their  tower 
of  defence.  Their  relations  and  duties  to 
their  Maker,  Redeemer,  and  Comforter,  as 
well  as  to  their  fellow  men,  were  considered 
and  determined  in  this  place  of  divine  worship 
and  of  public  deliberation.  It  stood  on  the 
ground  that  was  consecrated  by  no  words  of 
priestly  benediction,  but  by  the  tender  burial 
of  the  dead  and  the  hopes  of  the  Christian  resur- 
rection, in  the  confident  expectation  that  what 
was  sown  in  weakness  would  be  raised  in  power ; 
that  the  mortal  would  in  due  season  be  immor- 
tal ;  and  in  every  year,  from  that  first  year  of  the 
fathers,  when  the  first  grave  was  opened  to  re- 
ceive the  first  seed  for  the  illimitable  harvest,  the 
precious  sowing  has  continued  until  the  pres- 
ent year  of  grace.  Here,  around  the  spot 
where  the  subduers  of  the  wilderness  lifted  up 
their  prayers  and  praises  together  unto  God, 
now  rest  the  old  and  the  young,  the  gentle 
and  the  strong,  waiting  for  that  day  when  all 
that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God,  as  He  has  most  impressively 
said,  "and  shall  come  forth;  they  that  have 


126  HISTORY   OF    SOUTHOLD. 

done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and 
they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection 
of  damnation." 

The  congregations  that  worshipped  in  that 
Meeting  House  have  passed  beyond  our  sight 
and  observation  ;  but  our  indebtedness  to 
them  for  their  example  of  courage,  patience, 
endurance,  self-denial,  faithfulness,  and  Christ- 
ian devotion  has  not  ceased.  They  commend 
to  us  the  religion  for  the  sake  of  which  they 
became  pilgrims  and  exiles  from  the  land  of 
their  birth  and  the  graves  of  their  fathers 
while  they  sought  here  an  abode  where  they 
could  enjoy  the  gospel  in  purity  and  peace ; 
and  while  they  sought,  beyond  their  chosen 
place  on  earth,  a  better  country  where  they 
could  enjoy  perfection  and  blessedness  for 
ever  more.  They  rest  from  their  labors,  and 
their  works  do  follow  them.  Their  posterity 
may  well  emulate  their  virtues  in  faith  and  de- 
votion to  the  honor  of  God  and  to  the  welfare 
of  mankind  ;  and  in  due  season  join  them  in 
that  better  country  to  which  they  travelled — 
the  land  of  immortal  beauty  and  eternal  fruit- 
fulness. 


PERIOD  OF  THE    MINISTRY   OF  THE 
REV.  JOHN  YOUNGS— CONTINUED. 

1640 — 1672. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Among  the  calamities  and  distresses  which 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  upright  man  of  Ur,  he  ex- 
perienced the  miseries  of  changes  and  war. 
These  deprived  him  of  his  sons  and  despoiled 
him  of  his  wealth.  They  turned  into  foes  the 
very  members  of  his  own  household. 

The  changes  and  war  which  spring  from  a 
restless,  unjust  and  unstable  government,  are 
among  the  worst  evils  which  the  church  has 
to  meet  and  suffer  in  this  world,  while  she  is 
compelled  to  make  her  way,  and,  through  the 
divine  strength,  to  push  forward  her  benign 
work,  in  her  militant  state.  The  First  Church 
of  Southold  experienced  the  trials  and  hard- 
ships of  changes  and  war  while  she  was  laying 
the  foundations  of  the  subsequent  history  of 
this  Church  and  Town. 


136  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD; 

We  shall  better  appreciate  the  advantages 
conferred  upon  us  by  the  zeal,  devotion,  piety 
and  hardships  of  our  fathers,  and  by  the  favor 
of  our  God  in  protecting-  them,  and  permitting 
us  to  possess  the  inheritance  which  they  pre- 
pared for  us,  if  we  properly  understand  those 
changes  and  wars  which  caused  them  so  much 
uneasiness,  discomfort,  trouble  and  suffering 
in  the  early  years  of  our  history.  We  shall 
see  reasons  for  gratefulness  in  their  conduct, 
and  find  motives,  in  their  supreme  regard 
for  religion,  to  increase  our  love  for  God's 
word,  and  our  obedience  to  his  law,  and  our 
devotion  in  his  worship. 

The  planters  of  Southold  were  permitted  to 
retain  their  union  with  the  New  Haven  Juris- 
diction for  twenty-two  years.  Then  Gov. 
Winthrop  obtained  for  Connecticut  the  royal 
charter  which  Charles  II.  granted  on  the  3Oth 
of  April,  1662.  This  charter  extended  the 
government  of  Connecticut  over  the  territory 
of  the  New  Haven  Jurisdiction,  including 
Southold.  It  guaranteed  to  the  colonists  the 
rights  of  English  citizens ;  authorized  the 
General  Assembly  elected  by  the  people  to 
make  laws,  to  organize  courts,  to  appoint  all 
necessary  officers  for  the  public  good,  regu- 


SOUTHOLD    UNDER    CONNECTICUT.  131 

late  military  affairs,  provide  for  the  public  de- 
fence, and  control  other  public  interests.  Its 
character  was  so  general,  and  it  conferred 
such  ample  powers,  that  no  change  was  nec- 
essary when  Connecticut  became,  in  1776,  in- 
dependent of  Great  Britain  and  subject  to  the 
United  States  ;  and  so  the  same  charter  con- 
tinued without  amendment  as  the  constitution 
of  the  State  until  1818. 

The  people  of  Southold  judged  that  their 
religious  and  civil  liberty  would  be  safe  under 
its  protection.  They  accordingly  recognized 
the  authority  of  the  government  of  Connecti- 
cut, which  claimed  Long  Island  as  one  of  the 
"  adjacent  islands  "  mentioned  in  the  charter. 
Under  this  claim,  on  the  i2th  of  May,  1664, 
Connecticut  appointed  a  committee,  includ- 
ing the  Governor  and  Captain  John  Youngs 
of  Southold,  to  settle  the  English  plantations 
on  the  Island,  according  to  the  instruction 
given  them  ;  and  ordered  them  "to  do  their 
endeavors  so  to  settle  matters,  that  the  people 
may  be  both  civilly,  peaceably  and  religiously 
governed  in  the  English  plantations,  so  as 
they  may  win  the  heathen  to  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  by  their 
sober  and  religious  conversation," 


132  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

This  Committee  were  active  on  the  Island 
in  June  1664,  and  did  something  to  accomplish 
their  purposes. 

But  in  August  of  this  year,  Col.  Richard 
Nicholls  came  with  a  naval  force  and  took 
possession  of  New  York,  including  Long  Is- 
land, according  to  a  patent  which  Charles  II. 
had  given,  on  the  i2th  of  March,  1664,  to  h*5 
brother  James,  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  in 
which  Long  Island  is  particularly  named. 
Under  this  grant,  the  Duke  of  York  made 
Richard  Nicholls  Governor  of  his  province  ; 
and  Robert  Carr,  George  Cartwright,  and 
Samuel  Maverick  were  appointed  commission- 
ers with  him  to  take  possession  of  the  coun- 
try, determine  boundaries,  and  regulate  Other 
affairs  throughout  the  territory  extending  from 
the  Connecticut  river  to  the  Delaware.  These 
Commissioners  sent  a  proclamation  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Long  Island,  and  promised  that 
all  who  would  submit  to  the  British  King 
should  be  protected  in  his  laws  and  justice, 
and  peaceably  enjoy  whatsoever  God's  bless- 
ing and  their  honest  industry  had  furnished 
them  with,  and  all  other  privileges  of  English 
subjects.  At  the  close  of  August,  the  Dutch 
authorities  at  New  York  surrendered  to  the 


THE    DUKE    OF    YORK  S    PATENT.  133 

English,  and  as  soon  as  Gov.  Winthrop,  of 
Connecticut,  saw  the  patent  given  to  the  Duke 
of  York,  he  informed  the  people  of  Long  Isl- 
and that  Connecticut  had  no  longer  any 
claim  to  the  Island.  The  Commissioners  heard 
Mr.  Howell  of  Southampton  and  Capt.  Youngs 
of  Southold  give  the  reasons  why  Long  Island 
should  be  under  the  government  of  Connect- 
icut. But  on  the  3Oth  of  November,  they  de- 
cided that  Long  Island  must  belong  to  the 
Duke  of  York.  See  Gov.  Nicholls's  letter  to 
Mr.  Howell  and  Capt.  Youngs.  Town  Rec- 
ords, Book  B,  pp.  38,  39,  53. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  1665,  the  Govern- 
or sent  forth  a  proclamation  ordering  each  of 
the  Towns  on  Long  Island  to  elecl  two  dep- 
uties to  attend  a  general  meeting  at  Hemp- 
stead,  on  the  last  day  of  that  month,  in  order 
to  make  a  more  formal  submission  to  the 
Duke,  and  to  accept  a  new  body  ot  laws. 
William  Wells,  Esq.,  and  Capt.  John  Youngs 
were  chosen  by  the  people  of  Southold  to  rep- 
resent them,  and  to  carry  with  them  to  the 
Governor  the  following  petition,  namely: 

These  are  to  certifie  our  honored  Govern- 
or Coll.  Richard  Nicholls  Esqr  that  according 
to  his  command  and  in  persuance  of  his  sage 

12 


134  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

and  sound  advice  the  freemen  of  Southold  in 
a  plenary  meeting  made  election  of  mstr  Wil- 
liam Wells  and  Capt.  John  Youngs  and  them 
invested  with  full  power  to  conclude  any  cause 
or  matter  relating  to  all  or  any  of  the  several 
townes  comprised  in  the  Grand  Charter  and 
to  that  end  to  waite  uppon  your  honor  at  the 
time  and  place  assigned  by  your  letter  of  the 
eight  of  this  present  february  1664. 

1.  That  there  may  be  a  law  inafted  that  we 
may  injoy  our  lands   in  free  sockadg  we  and 
our  heirs  for  ever. 

2.  That  the  freemen  may  have  their  choyse 
every  yeare  of  all  their  sivell  officers. 

3.  That    every  trained   souldier   may  have 
his  free  choys  of  theire  millitary  officers  year- 
ly  if  they  see   ocatione  and  that  we  may  not 
pay  to  any  forttification  but  what  may  be  with- 
in our  selves  :  because  we  are  Remott  from  all 
other    townes :  and    that    the    fotte    soldieres 
may   not    be    injoyned  to    trayn   without  the 
p'cincks  of  the  towne. 

4.  That  we   may   have   three   courts  in  the 
towne  of  Southold  in  a  year  &  that  there  may 
be  chosen  by  the  freemen  on  or  two  assistants 
to  sitte  in  Court  with  those  that  shall  be  mag- 
istrates  and   that  they  may  have  power  to  try 
all   causes  and  actiones  except  Cappitall  mat- 
ters and  that  they  may  tottally  end  all  matters 
to  the  value  of  five  pounds  without  any  apelles. 

5.  That  because  the  Gennerall  Courts  and 


THE  DUKE'S  LAWS.  13$ 

meettings  are  verry  Remott  from  us  that 
therefore  we  may  have  some  mittygatione  in 
our  charge* 

6*  That  not  any  magistrate  may  have  any 
yearly  maintainance; 

7*  That  there  be  not  any  Ratte  Levy,  or 
Charge  or  mony  Raised  but  what  shallbe  with 
the  consent  of  the  major  part  of  the  Dep-^ 
utyes  in  a  Gennerall  Court  or  metting. 

On  the  first  of  March,  all  the  deputies  of 
the  several  Towns  signed  an  address  to  the 
Duke,  and  promised,  for  all  the  people,  sub- 
mission to  his  laws,  and  support  of  his  rights 
and  title,  according  to  his  patent  from  the 
King. 

The  same  meeting  made  a  body  of  laws 
for  the  government  of  the  province,  or  rath- 
er accepted  a  code  already  prepared  for  them. 
These  are  known  as  "the  Duke's  Laws."  At 
the  same  meeting,  a  shire,  or  county,  was 
formed ;  and  after  the  model  of  Yorkshire  in 
England,  it  was  divided  into  Ridings,  East, 
North,  and  West.  The  towns  in  the  present 
county  of  Suffolk  formed  the  East  Riding  of 
Yorkshire  on  Long  Island. 

The  people  of  Southold  were  greatly  dis- 
satisfied with  the  aclion  of  their  representa- 
tives, and  still  more  so  with  the  Duke's  gov- 


136  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

ernment.  But  Messrs.  Wells  and  Youngs 
undoubtedly  did  their  best  for  the  people 
here,  and  as  well  as  any  other  persons  in 
Southold  could  have  done.  But  the  early 
settlers  left  no  means  unused  that  gave  any 
promise  of  restoring  them  to  Connecticut, 
and  of  releasing  them  from  the  authority  and 
laws  of  the  Duke.  It  could  not  be  other- 
wise, in  view  of  the  contrast  between  the 
character,  life  and  purposes  of  the  Town,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  disposition,  aims,  and 
history  of  this  specimen  of  the  Stuarts,  on 
the  other.  He  was  the  second  surviving  son 
of  Charles  I.  and  Henrietta  Maria,  daughter 
of  Henry  IV.  of  France.  He  was  born  in 
1633,  called  Duke  of  York  forthwith,  and 
patented  as  such  in  1643.  He  was  eight 
years  old  when  the  civil  war  commenced. 
He  saw  the  first  great  battle  of  that  war  at 
Edgehill,  Oct.  23,  1642,  where  the  forces  of 
the  king  got  the  advantage  of  their  foes.  He 
was  at  the  siege  of  Bristol  the  next  year ; 
was  taken  prisoner  at  Oxford  in  1646;  es- 
caped in  1648,  and  went  to  Holland  and  Flan- 
ders ;  in  1649,  to  Paris  and  Jersey,  and  thence 
returned  to  the  Netherlands.  In  1651  he  en- 
tered the  French  army ;  but  he  had  to  leave 


tHE  DUKE'S  LIFE.  137 

France  four  years  afterwards,  and  then  he  en- 
tered the  Spanish  army.  In  1660,  his  elder 
brother  was  recalled  from  his  exile  and  made 
King  of  England  as  Charles  II.  The  Duke 
shared  in  the  good  fortune  of  his  family,  and 
married  Anne  Hyde,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon.  She  died  in  1671,  and  two  years 
afterwards,  when  he  was  forty  years  old,  he 
married  an  Italian  lady  aged  fifteen  years, 
He  had  become  a  Papist  while  on  the  conti- 
nent; but  he  did  not  own  it  until  the  death  of 
his  first  wife.  He  became  the  head  of  his 
brother's  administration  in  Scotland  and  was 
exceedingly  cruel  to  the  Presbyterians,  who 
were  then,  as  now,  the  most  and  the  best  of 
the  people  of  that  country.  His  brother  died 
and  he  became  the  King  in  1685.  His  par- 
liament was  the  most  slavish  and  his  pun- 
ishments the  most  bloody  ever  known  in 
English  history;  but  he  dismissed  the  parlia- 
ment, and  undertook  to  overthrow  the  consti- 
tution, and  hand  over  the  government  to  the 
papacy.  He  went  from  bad  to  worse  for  three 
years.  On  the  loth  of  June,  1688,  his  Italian 
and  papal  wife  bore  a  son  to  him.  The  pros- 
peel:  of  this  son's  succeeding  him  was  enough. 
Twenty  days  later,  his  daughter  Mary  and  her 


138  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

husband  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  were  in- 
vited by  the  real  representatives  of  the  Eng- 
lish people,  to  take  the  throne.  William  came 
with  15,000  men,  and  James  fled  to  France. 
The  next  year,  he  passed  over  to  Ireland  and 
headed  a  rebellion  which  received  its  death 
blow  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  July,  i,  1690. 
He  then  returned  to  France,  said  prayers  to 
the  saints,  and  plotted  the  assassination  of 
William  III.  He  died  of  apoplexy  in  1701. 
This  is  the  man  to  whose  authority  and  laws 
the  people  of  Southolcl  had  to  submit  in 
1665.  The  Town  was  allowed  to  elec~t  its 
constable  and  assessors,  and  these  officers 
could  make  orders  concerning  some  local  in- 
terests of  the  people,  and  they  were  required 
to  appoint  every  year  two  of  the  assessors 
to  make  the  rate  for  building  and  repairing 
the  church,  maintaining  the  minister,  and  sup- 
porting the  poor.  But  the  governor  of  the 
Duke's  appointment  was  in  effect  law-maker, 
judge,  and  executive  officer.  The  delegates 
of  Southold,  Southampton  and  Easthampton 
met  in  Southold  in  1672  in  order  to  unite  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  rights. 

Onj   instance  of   the  Governor's  arbitrary 
rule   was   this:   he  gave   orders,  on   the 


THE    DUKES    GOVERNORS.  139 

day  of  July,  1667,  to  the  officers  of  Southold, 
and  of  other  eastern  Towns  on  Long-  Island, 
that  one-third  of  the  militia,  which  were  in 
foot  companies,  should  fit  themselves  with 
horses,  saddles  and  such  arms  (either  pistols, 
carbines  or  muskets)  as  they  had,  and  be 
ready,  at  an  hour's  warning,  to  obey  his  orders 
whenever  he  should  command  them  to  a  ren- 
dezvous. All  civil  and  military  officers  were 
required,  upon  their  allegiance,  to  promote 
this  service  strenuously  and  diligently. 

The  first  Governor,  however  arbitrary,  was 
a  man  of  intelligence  and  wisdom ;  but  he  re- 
turned to  England  in  1668,  and  four  years  af- 
terward was  killed  in  a  naval  engagement  in 
a  war  against  Holland.  He  was  succeeded 

<^> 

by  Col.  Francis  Lovelace,  who  soon  proved  to 
be  a  far  less  worthy  governor  than  Col.  Rich- 
ard Nicholls.  For  Lovelace  was  the  man  who 
ordered  one  of  his  deputies  to  impose  such 
taxes  upon  the  people  as  might  give  them 
liberty  for  no  thought  but  how  to  discharge 
them.  In  1670,  he  ordered  Southold  and 
other  towns  on  Long  Island  to  pay  taxes  to 
build  or  rebuild  a  fort  at  New  York,  and  for 
other  purposes.  The  towns  of  Southold, 
Southampton  and  Easthampton  appointed 


14O  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD; 

delegates  who  met  here  in  Southold  to  con- 
sider the  matter ;  and  after  full  consultation, 
these  Puritan  towns  declined  to  pay  the  tax- 
es, unless  they  could  have  the  rights  and  priv- 
ileges of  the  people  of  New  England.  They 
united  with  other  towns  of  the  Island  in  pro- 
testing against  the  despotism  of  the  Governor, 
The  result  was,  that  the  Governor  and  his 
council  ordered  the  protests  to  be  publicly 
burned. 

These  transactions  most  deeply  moved  the 
people  of  Southold,  who  were  nearly  all  of 
them  members  of  the  church,  and  with  whom 
their  purity  and  liberty  in  religion  were  their 
chief  concern.  The  Duke's  government  was  un- 
congenial and  even  irksome  from  the  first  day 
of  its  imposition.  It  was  steadily  becoming 
more  uncomfortable  and  even  hateful. 

In  these  circumstances  a  new7  source  of  ag- 
itation was  opened.  It  was  humiliation  to 
them  as  Englishmen  ;  but  relief  to  them  as  Pur- 

<_> 

itan  Christians  and  devoted  lovers  of  liberty. 
On  the  28th  of  July,  1673,  a  Dutch  fleet  of 
armed  vessels  came  inside  of  Sandy  Hook, 
and  two  days  thereafter  sailed  up  to  New 
York  and  took  possession  of  the  place  without 
the  firing  of  a  gun  to  resist  them. 


WHALE    FISHING. 

They  left  Capt.  Anthony  Colve  as  Governor, 
and  took  away  with  them,  on  their  return,  Col. 
Francis  Lovelace,  whom  they  carried  back  to 
Europe. 

Capt.  Manning,  the  Eng-lish  officer  who  had 
command  of  the  fort  at  the  time,  was  after- 
wards tried  for  treachery  and  cowardice,  pro- 
nounced guilty,  and  condemned  to  have  his 
sword  broken  over  his  head,  casting  him  out 
of  the  army  in  disgrace.  Gov.  Lovelace  was 
deprived  of  his  estate,  which  was  given  to  the 
Duke  of  York. 

Capt.  Colve,  the  new  Dutch  Governor  of 
the  province,  was  a  man  of  energy,  and  began 
forthwith  to  restore  the  Dutch  authority  and 
institutions.  As  soon  as  he  had  brought  the 
city  into  a  good  condition  of  order  and  indus- 
try, he  issued  a  proclamation,  August  14,  1673, 
to  the  several  towns  on  Long  Island,  requir- 
ing each  of  them  to  send  two  deputies  to  New 
York  with  full  power  to  submit  to  the  Dutch 
authority.  The  Towns  on  the  West  End  sub- 
mitted. 

But  Southold,  Southampton  and  Easthamp- 
ton  eagerly  sent  their  deputies  to  Connecticut 
to  ask  for  its  government  and  protection. 
Their  request  was  referred  by  the  General 


142  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Court  to  a  committee,  authorized  to  grant  it, 
with  the  concurrence  of  the  Governments  of 
Massachusetts  and  Plymouth.  The  committee 
took  these  three  towns  under  the  Connecticut 
Jurisdiction,  made  them  a  county,  organized  a 
county  court,  appointed  judges,  and  commis- 
sioned other  civil  and  military  officers. 

These  towns  adopted  other  means  also  to 
accomplish  their  purpose,  as  it  appears  from 
the  following  Order : 

"  At  a  Court  at  Whitehall,  the  3d  of  July, 
1672. 

"Present — the  King's  Most  Excellent  Maj- 
esty in  Council. 

"  Upon  reading  this  day  at  the  Board  the 
humble  petition  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  in 
three  villages  at  the  East  End  of  Long  Island 
in  America,  called  Easthampton,  Southamp- 
ton, and  Southold,  setting  forth  that  they 
have  spent  much  time  and  pains  and  the 
greater  part  of  their  estates  in  settling  the 
trade  of  whale  fishing  in  the  adjacent  seas, 
having  endeavored  it  above  these  twenty 
years,  but  could  not  bring  it  to  any  perfection 
till  within  these  two  or  three  years  last  past. 
And  it  being  now  a  hopeful  trade  at  New 
York  in  America,  the  Governor  and  the  Dutch 
there  do  require  the  petitioners  to  come  under 
their  patent,  and  lay  very  heavy  taxes  upon 


RELATIONS   WITH    THE    DUTCH.  143 

them  beyond  any  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  in 
New  England,  and  will  not  permit  the  peti- 
tioners to  have  any  deputies  in  Court,  but  being 
chief,  do  impose  what  laws  they  please  upon 
them  ;  and,  insulting  very  much  over  the  pe- 
titioners, threaten  to  cut  down  their  timber, 
which  is  but  little  they  have  to  [make]  casks 
for  oil,  although  the  petitioners  purchased 
their  lands  of  the  Lord  Sterling's  deputy, 
above  thirty  years  since,  and  have  been  till 
now  under  the  government  and  patent  of  Mr. 
Winthrop,  belonging  to  Connecticut  patent, 
which  lieth  far  more  convenient  for  the  peti- 
tioners' assistance  in  the  aforesaid  trade.  And 
therefore  most  humbly  praying  that  they  may 
be  continued  under  the  government  and  patent 
of  Mr.  Winthrop,  or  else  that  they  may  be  a 
free  corporation  as  his  Majesty's  subjects  for 
the  further  encouraging  them  in  their  said 
trade,  otherwise  they  must  be  forced  to  re- 
move, to  their  great  undoing,  and  damage  of 
sundry  merchants,  to  whom  they  stand  in- 
debted for  their  trade." 

The  King  ordered  the  Council  on  Foreign 
Plantations  to  consider  this  petition,  and  re- 
port their  opinion  thereon,  with  all  convenient 
speed,  and  also  to  give  notice  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Duke  of  York,  that  they  may  at- 
tend when  the  same  shall  be  under  considera- 


144  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

tion.  See  Brodhead's  Documents,  Vol.  3,  pp. 
197,  198. 

The  representations  of  this  petition  are 
touched  at  one  point  by  a  statemeut  which 
Gov.  Nicholls  made  a  few  years  previously, 
when  he  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  York  in  these 
words  : 

"The  people  of  Long  Island  are  very  poor, 
and  labor  only  to  get  bread  and  clothing,  with- 
out hopes  of  ever  seeing  a  penny  of  monies." 
See  Brodhead's  Documents,  Vol.  3,  p.  106. 

On  the  day  that  Gov.  Colve  appointed  for 
the  Puritan  Towns  to  submit  to  the  Dutch 
authority,  the  Delegates  from  these  English 
Towns  presented  to  the  Dutch  Council  the 
following  writing : 

"Jamaica,  August  the  i4th,  1673. 
"  Whereas  we  the  inhabitants  of  the  East 
Riding  of  Long  Island  (namely,  Southampton, 
Easthampton,  Southold,  Setauket  and  Hunt- 
ington,)  were  sometimes  rightly  and  peaceful- 
ly joined  with  Hartford  Jurisdiction  to  good 
satisfaction  on  both  sides  ;  but  about  the  year 
1664  Gen.  Richard  Nicholls  coming  in  the 
name  of  his  Majesty's  Royal  Highness  the 
Duke  of  York  and  by  power  subjected  us  to 
the  government  under  which  we  have  remain- 
ed until  this  present  time,  and  now  by  turn  of 
God's  providence,  ships  of  force  belonging  to 


PRIVILEGES    DESIRED.  145 

the  States  of  Holland  have  taken  New  York 
the  3Oth  of  the  last  month,  and  we  having  no 
intelligence  to  this  day  from  our  Governor, 
Francis  Lovelace,  Esquire,  of  what  hath  hap- 
pened or  what  we  are  to  do,  but  the  General 
of  the  said  Dutch  force  hath  sent  to  us  his 
declaration  or  summons  with  a  serious  com- 
mination  therein  contained,  and  since  we  un- 
derstand by  the  post  bringing  the  said  declar- 
ation that  our  Governor  is  peaceably  and  re- 
spectfully entertained  into  the  said  fort  and 
city ;  we  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  East  Rid- 
ing, or  our  deputies  for  us,  at  a  meeting  this 
day  do  make  these  our  requests  as  follows  : 

Imprimis,  That  if  we  come  under  the  Dutch 
government,  we  desire  that  we  may  retain  our 
ecclesiastical  privileges,  namely,  to  worship  God 
according  to  our  belief  without  any  imposition. 

Secondly.  That  we  may  enjoy  the  small 
matters  of  goods  we  possess,  with  our  lands 
according  to  our  purchase  of  the  natives  as  it 
is  now  bounded  out,  without  further  charge 
of  confirmation. 

Thirdly.  That  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  be 
imposed  may  bind  us  only  while  we  are  un- 
der Government ;  but  that  as  we  shall  be 
bound  not  to  act  against  them,  so  also  not  to 
take  up  arms  for  them  against  our  own  nation. 

Fourthly.  That  we  may  always  have  liber- 
ty to  choose  our  own  officers  both  civil  and 
military. 

Fifthly.    That  these  five  towns  may  be  a  cor- 


146  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

poration  of  themselves  to  end  all  matters  of  dif- 
erence  between  man  and  man,  excepting  only 
cases  concerning  life,  limb  and  banishment. 

Sixthly.  That  no  law  may  be  made  or  tax 
imposed  upon  the  people  at  any  time  but  such 
as  shall  be  consented  to  by  the  deputies  of 
the  respective  towns. 

Seventhly.  That  we  may  have  free  trade 
with  the  nation  now  in  power  and  all  others 
without  paying  custom. 

Eighthly.  In  every  respect  to  have  equal 
privileges  with  the  Dutch  nation. 

Ninthly.  That  there  may  be  free  liberty 
granted  the  five  towns  abovesaid  for  the  pro- 
curing from  any  of  the  United  Colonies  (with- 
out molestation  on  either  side)  warps,  irons 
or  any  other  necessaries  for  the  comfortable 
carrying  on  the  whale  design. 

Tenthly.  That  all  bargains,  covenants  and 
contracts  of  what  nature  soever  stand  in  full 
force,  as  they  would  have  been  had  there  been 
no  change  of  government. 

Easthampton,        Thomas  James. 
.  Southampton,        John  Jessup, 

Joseph  Raynor. 
Southold,  Thomas  Hutchinson, 

Isaac  Arnold. 
Brookhaven,          Richard  Woodhull, 

Andrew  Miller. 
Huntington,  Isaac  Platt, 

Thomas  Skidmore. 
Deputies." 


PRIVILEGES    GRANTED.  147 

The  Records  of  the  Dutch  Council  proceed : 

"  The  Delegates  from  Easthampton,  South- 
ampton, Southold,  Setauket  and  Huntington 
requested  an  audience,  and  entering,  delivered 
in  their  credentials  with  a  writing  in  form  of  a 
petition.  They  further  declared  to  submit 
themselves  to  the  obedience  of  their  High 
Mightinesses  the  Lords  States-General  of  the 
United  Netherlands  and  his  Serene  Highness 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  etc.  Whereupon,  the 
preceding  petition  having  been  read  and  taken 
into  consideration,  it  is  ordered  as  follows  : 

On  the  first  point.  They  are  allowed  free- 
dom of  conscience  in  the  worship  of  God  and 
church  discipline. 

Second.  They  shall  hold  and  possess  all 
their  goods  and  lawfully  procured  lands,  on 
condition  that  said  lands  be  duly  recorded. 

Third  point  regarding  the  oath  of  allegiance 
with  liberty  not  to  take  up  arms  against  their 
own  nation  is  allowed  and  accorded  to  the  pe- 
titioners. 

Fourth  article  is  in  like  manner  granted  to 
the  petitioners  :  to  nominate  a  double  number 
for  their  magistrates,  from  which  the  election 
shall  then  be  made  here  by  the  Governor. 

Fifth.  It  is  allowed  the  petitioners  that 
the  magistrates  in  each  town  shall  pronounce 
final  judgment  to  the  value  of  five  pounds 
sterling,  and  the  Schout  with  the  General 
Court  of  said  five  towns,  to  the  sum  of  twenty 


148  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

pounds,  but  over  these  an  appeal  to  the  Gov- 
ernor is  reserved. 

Sixth.  In  case  any  of  the  Dutch  towns 
shall  send  deputies,  the  same  shall,  in  like 
manner,  be  allowed  the  petitioners. 

On  the  seventh  and  eighth  articles  it  is  or- 
dered, that  the  petitioners  shall  be  considered 
and  treated  as  all  the  other  subjects  of  the 
Dutch  nation,  and  be  allowed  to  enjoy  the 
same  privileges  with  them. 

Ninth  article  cannot,  in  this  conjuncture  of 
time,  be  allowed. 

Tenth  article.  'Tis  allowed  that  all  the 
foregoing  particular  contracts  and  bargains 
shall  stand  in  full  force." 

The  first  noticeable  feature  of  this  business 
is,  that  the  first  of  the  deputies  was  a  minister, 
the  pastor  of  Easthampton,  and  that  the  first 
article  of  the  ten  included  in  th:i  provisions 
has  reference  to  the  chief  concern  of  these 
Puritan  Christians,  namely,  religion.  Th^ir 
goods  and  lands  were  held  secondary  to  this 
chief  interest.  It  shows  the  character  and  ob- 
jects of  the  men  who  were  active  here  two 
hundred  years  ago  ;  and  it  manifests  their  re- 
ligious devotion  in  a  most  impressive  way. 
It  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  godly  character 
of  the  men  who  have  laid  us  under  obligations 

o 

for  the  inheritance  which  we  enjoy.      It  plainly 


DUTCH    COMMISSION.  149 

shows  us  also  how  broad,  and  liberal,  and 
comprehensive  was  the  nature  of  their  relig- 
ion. It  was  no  mere  matter  of  feeling— no 
narrow  experience  of  sentiment  or  emotion. 
But  it  embraced  all  their  important  interests 
for  this  life  as  well  as  for  that  which  is  to  come. 

Ten  days  after  these  transactions,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Connecticut  gave  the  Dutch  Coun- 
cil plain  notice,  that  the  United  Colonies  of 
New  England  would,  through  the  assistance 
of  Almighty  God,  maintain  the  liberty  of  the 
English  on  Long  Island  eastward  of  Oyster 
Bay,  and  keep  them  as  a  part  of  New  Eng- 
land. The  Dutch  instantly  replied  to  this 
notice  with  spirit  and  defiance,  declaring  that 
Southold  and  the  other  eastward  towns  be- 
longed to  the  Dutch  government,  and  would 
be  retained  by  arms,  should  there  be  any  need 
of  force  to  retain  them. 

On  the  8th  of  September,  the  Council  elect- 
ed officers  for  the  County  and  for  the  several 
towns  from  the  nominations  submitted.  For 
Schout,  that  is,  Sheriff  of  the  County,  Isaac 
Arnold  of  Southold  was  chosen,  and  for  Mag- 
istrates of  this  town,  Thomas  Moore  and  Thom- 
as Hutchinson.  At  the  same  time  the  oath 
of  fidelity  to  the  Dutch  government  to  be 


t5O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

taken  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  these  eastern 
towns  was  modified  somewhat,  with  a  view  to 
make  it  less  unacceptable  to  them. 

The  Dutch  Council  of  War  in  New  York 
were  certainly  very  considerate  and  generous 
in  their  dealings  with  these  towns.  But  it  is 
not  wonderful  that  their  efforts  to  conciliate 
and  keep  them  were  in  vain.  They  could  not 
overcome  the  force  of  language  and  grateful 
associations. 

But  on  the  ist  of  October,  Gov.  Colve  com- 
missioned Capt.  William  Knyffe  and  Lieut. 
Anthony  Malypart,  with  the  Clerk,  Abraham 
Varlett,  to  call  a  Town  meeting  in  each  of  the 
eastern  towns,  to  administer  unto  the  inhab- 
itants thereof  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  to  make 
a  true  return  thereof. 

The  business  of  Capt.  Knyffe  and  his  asso- 
ciates did  not  prosper.  He  visited  all  the 
towns,  called  meetings,  and  proposed  to  them 
the  oath.  But  the  several  Towns  declined  to 
take  the  oath.  Southold  had  already  met, 
and  on  the  2gth  of  September  said  : 

"  The  reasons  following  show  why  we  the 
major  part  of  the  Town  of  Southold  aforesaid 
do  forbear  to  act  further  than  we  have  acted 
upon  the  summons  sent  us  by  Mr.  Isaac  Ar- 


DUTCH    JURISDICTION    DECLINED.  151" 

nolcL"  No  less  than  seven  different  reasons 
are  enumerated  and  stated,  the  first  being 
that  they  had  understood  that  the  Schout  and 
Magistrates  only  were  to  take  the  oath,  and 
the  second  that  they  would  be  debarred  the 
freedom  of  conscience  granted  in  the  first  ar- 
ticle of  the  Order  made  on  the  24th  of  August. 
They  close  their  statement  with  these  words  : 

"We  have  been  left  without  government 
about  a  month,  which  hath  been  prejudicial 
to  some  and  caused  fear  in  others,  we  lying 
open  to  the  incursion  of  those  who  threaten 
us  daily  with  the  spoiling  of  our  goods  if  we 
take  any  oath  of  fidelity  to  you  ;  and  now  you 
coming  amongst  us,  without  power  to  settle 
either  civil  or  military  government,  we  not- 
withstanding are  willing  to  submit  ourselves 
to  your  government,  (during  the  prevalence 
of  your  power  over  us)  provided  you  perform 
those  articles  you  first  promised  us,  and  also 
establish  a  firm  and  peaceable  government 
among  us,  protecting  us  from  the  invasion  of 
those  which  daily  threaten  us." 

Southold  was  followed  by  Southampton, 
Oct.  i  ;  by  Easthampton,  Oct.  2  ;  by  Setauk- 
et,  Oct.  4  ;  and  by  Huntington,  Oct.  6 — all 
declining  the  Dutch  Jurisdiction. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  Gov.  Colve  sub- 
mitted to  the  Council  the  report  of  Capt. 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Knyffe  and  Lieut.  Malypart,  and  the  answers 
of  the  Towns,  and  proposed  whether  it  would 
not  be  necessary  to  send  a  considerable  force 
thither  to  punish  them  as  rebels.  He  request- 
ed the  advice  of  the  Council  hereupon.  After 
divers  debates,  the  majority  judged  that  in 
this  conjuncture  of  war  it  was  not  advisable 
to  attack  them  by  force  of  arms,  and  thereby 
afford  them  and  the  neighboring  colonies  oc- 
casion to  take  up  arms  against  the  Dutch. 
They  judged  it  better  to  send  a  second  dele- 
gation. 

Captain  Knyffe  and  Ensign  Vos  were  suc- 
cessful in  this  second  visit  with  Setauket  and 
Huntington,  and  on  the  28th  of  October  gave 
the  list  of  names  in  those  two  towns  to  the 
Governor,  having  sworn  Joseph  and  Isaac 
Platt  for  magistrates  of  Huntington  and  Rich- 
ard Woodhull  for  Setauket. 

On  the  3Oth,  the  Governor  sent  hither  to 
the  most  eastward  towns  a  most  worthy  delega- 
tion, with  instructions  to  dispense  with  the 
oath,  if  needful,  except  on  the  part  of  the  mag- 
istrates, Isaac  Arnold,  the  Sheriff,  having  al- 
ready taken  it ;  to  give  them  a  double  number 
of  magistrates,  should  they  desire  it ;  to  assure 
them  that  the  instructions  sent  to  the  Schout 


DELEGATION  FROM  THE  GOVERNOR.    153 

and  magistrates  should  in  no  wise  conflict  with 
the  order  formerly  granted  on  their  petition ; 
that  they  should  have  the  right  to  trade  with 
the  neighboring  Colonies  on  as  good  terms  as 
anybody;  that  they  shall  have  the  nomination 
of  their  own  magistrates,  and  whatever  they 
ask  in  fairness  ;  and  that  refusing  obedience 

O 

will  be  their  ruin.  The  Commissioners  sent 
with  these  instructions  were  the  Hon.  Corne- 
lius Steenwyck,  who  was  the  Governor's  chief 
Councilor,  Capt.  Charles  Epesteyn,  and  Lieut. 
Charles  Quirynsen.  Councilor  Steenwyck  had 
been  Mayor  of  the  city  for  several  years  under 
the  English  Government  and  became  Mayor 
again  after  the  restoration  of  the  English  rule. 
For  a  time,  he  had  been  appointed  Governor 
of  the  Province  in  the  absence  of  Gov.  Love- 
lace. He  was  a  merchant  of  the  highest 
character  for  honesty  and  worth,  one  of  the 
richest  and  most  popular  and  influential  men 
in  the  colony.  There  was  living  no  better 
man  for  the  Governor  to  appoint  as  the  chief 
of  the  commission  ;  for  both  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish had  unbounded  confidence  in  him. 

But  he  did  not  prosper  in  his  enterprise. 
He  and  his  fellow  commissioners  sailed  Oct. 
31,  in  the  naval  sloop  or  snow  the  Zee-hond 


154  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

(Seadog)  about  noon  on  Tuesday ;  but  were 
thrown  ashore  by  the  current  near  Corlear's 
hook.  But  they  warped  off  and  sailed  to  Hell- 
gate,  where  they  met  the  flood  and  had  to  re- 
turn and  anchor  near  Barent's  Island. 

Wednesday.  The  wind  blew  hard  from  the 
east.  They  could  not  sail ;  rowed  to  Barent's 
Island ;  returning,  touched  a  rock  near  the 
Pot ;  almost  upset  the  boat,  and  were  in  im- 
minent danger. 

Thursday,  they  broke  their  rope  and  lost 
their  anchor. 

Friday,  they  passed  the  White  Stone  and 
reached  Minnewit's  Island. 

Saturday,  they  sailed  near  Falcon's  Island 
and  met  a  complete  hurricane. 

Sunday,  they  reached  the  riff  of  the  Lit. 
tlegatt,  but  lost  their  boat. 

Monday,  they  pursued  a  sail  from  Pluymgat 
to  near  Silvester  Island.  It  proved  to  be  a 
vessel  conveying  Capt.  Winthrop  and  Mr. 
Willis,  Commissioners  of  Connecticut.  There 
was  a  showing  of  commissions  on  each  side. 
Mr.  Silvester  sent  his  son  with  a  boat,  and 
the  Commissioners  went  on  shore  and  passed 
the  night  with  him,  [on  Shelter  Island]. 

Tuesday,  Nov.  7.     The  Connecticut  Com- 


DUTCH    OR    ENGLISH.  155 

missioners  gave  a  copy  of  their  commission  to 
the  Dutch  Commissioners,  and  requested 
them  to  proceed  no  further  with  their  busi- 
ness ;  but  answer  was  made  that  the  Dutch 
commission  must  be  executed.  Whereupon 
the  Connecticut  Commissioners  hoisted  the 
King's  jack,  and  rowed  up  toward  Southold 
in  the  boat  belonging  to  Mr.  Silvester's  ship, 
with  the  King's  jack  in  the  stern.  The  Dutch 
commissioners  immediately  followed  in  a  boat 
they  had  borrowed  from  Capt.  Silvester,  with 
the  Prince's  flag  in  the  stern.  At  2  p.  M., 
coming  near  Southold,  they  heard  the  drum 
beat  and  the  trumpet  sounded,  and  saw  a  sa- 
lute with  muskets  whenever  the  Connecticut 
gentleman  passed  by.  Meanwhile,  the  water 
being  low,  and  the  tide  on  the  turn,  the  boat  be- 
ing slowly  dragged  along  by  the  sailors,  the 
Commissioners  were  obliged  to  land.  Coming 
nearer,  they  saw  a  troop  of  cavalry  riding 
backward  and  forward,  four  of  whom  advanc- 
ed to  the  Commissioners,  dismounted,  and 
courteously  placed  the  Commissioners  on  their 
own  horses  ;  whereupon  the  Commissioners 
ascended  the  heights,  where  they  met  Capt. 
Winthrop  and  Esquire  Willis  with  a  troop  of 
twenty-six  or  twenty-eight  men  on  horseback, 


156  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

So  they  rode  on  towards  the  village.  ["  The 
heights  "  are  the  bluff  at  the  lower  end  of  Bay 
Avenue.  The  road  formerly  ran  in  a  some- 
what curved  line,  and  farther  east  than  Bay 
Avenue,  from  the  Main  Street  to  the  bluff, 
and  led  down  to  the  beach  eastward  of  the 
bluff,  west  of  the  present  Bay  Farm  of  Elder 
Stuart  T.  Terry].  When  they  reached  the 
village,  they  found  about  sixty  footmen  in 
arms.  They  went  to  the  house  of  one  Mr. 
Moore,  and  dismounting,  they  were  invited  to 
enter.  This  house  of  Mr.  Moore  is  the  pres- 
ent Case  house.  After  a  little  while,  Mr. 
Steenwyck  requested  that  the  inhabitants 
might  be  called  together  to  hear  why  they  had 
come  and  to  hear  also  the  commission  of  the 
Governor.  Then  the  Connecticut  Commis- 
sioners answered,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Southold  were  subjects  of  his  Majesty  of  Eng- 
land, and  had  nothing  to  do  with  any  orders 
or  commission  of  the  Dutch  ;  and  then  said 
to  the  inhabitants  :  Whoever  among  you  will 
not  remain  faithful  to  his  Majesty  of  England, 
your  lawful  Lord  and  King,  let  him  now  speak. 
Not  one  of  the  inhabitants  made  answer.  Mr. 
Steenwyck  replied  thereupon,  that  they  were 
subjects  of  their  High  Mightinesses  the  States- 


DEPARTURE  OF  THE  DUTCH.      157 

General  and  his  Highness  the  Prince  of  "Or- 
ange, as  appeared  by  their  colors  and  consta- 
ble's staff,  by  the  nomination  of  their  magis- 
trates, presented  by  them  to  the  Governor, 
and  by  the  election  subsequent  thereon.  He 
further  requested,  that  the  elected  persons 
might  be  called.  Thomas  Moore  appeared ; 
but  Thomas  Hutchinson  absented  himself, 
and  could  not  be  found.  Said  Moore  would 
not  accept  the  election  of  Gov.  Colve ;  but 
said  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Then  Isaac 
Arnold,  who  had  already  been  sworn  in  as 
Sheriff  [he  was  in  New  York  when  the  Dutch 
took  the  place]  declared,  that  he  had  already 
resigned  his  office  of  Sheriff,  because  it  was 
not  in  his  power  to  execute  that  office,  having 
been  already  threatened  by  the  inhabitants 
that  they  would  plunder  his  house.  Mr. 
Steenwyck  again  asked  the  people,  most  of 
whom  were  present,  if  they  would  remain 
faithful  to  their  Hi^h  Mightinesses  and  take 

t±>  O 

the  oath  ?  Not  one  answered ;  signifying 
plainly  enough  by  their  silence  that  they 
would  not.  After  some  further  efforts,  the 
Dutch  Commissioners  left  the  place.  On 
leaving,  some  inhabitants  of  Southampton 
were  present,  and  John  Cooper,  (Ruling  El- 


158  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

der  of  the  Southampton  Church),  told  Mr. 
Steenwyck  to  take  care  and  not  appear  with 
that  thing  at  Southampton.  He  repeated 
this  more  than  once ;  for  the  commissioners 
had  intended  to  go  thither  the  next  morning. 
Whereupon  Mr.  Steenwyck  asked,  what  he 
meant  by  that  word  "thing,"  to  which  the 
said  John  Cooper  replied,  "  the  Prince's 
Flag."  Then  Mr.  Steenwyck  inquired,  if  he 
said  ?.o  of  himself,  or  on  the  authority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Southampton.  He  answered: 
"  Rest  satisfied  that  I  warn  you,  and  take  care 
that  you  come  not  with  that  Flag  within  range 
of  shot  of  our  village." 

The  Connecticut  commissioners  asked  the 
Dutch  what  village  they  would  visit  next,  and 
intimated  that  they  would  be  present  at  every 
place  which  the  Dutch  commissioners  should 
visit. 

The  latter  thereupon  entered  their  boat  and 
rowed  back  toward  Shelter  Island,  and  resolv- 
ed not  to  visit  the  other  two  villages,  as  they 
clearly  perceived  that  they  would  be  unable 
to  effect  any  thing,  and  rather  do  more  harm 
than  good. 

They  reached  Shelter  Island  at  ten  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and  there  spent  the  night. 


A   VIGOROUS    LETTER.  159 

The  next  day,  Wednesday,  Nov.  8th,  they 
sailed  with  the  ebb  at  noon,  and  passed 
through  Plumgut,  when  the  sun  was  an  hour 
high,  with  a  spanking  breeze  ;  saw  two  sails ; 
spoke  one,  belonging  to  Achter  Kol,  that  is, 
Elizabeth,  New  Jersey. 

The  next  evening  at  8  o'clock  the  commis- 
sioners reached  the  Fort  in  New  York  and 
reported  to  the  Governor,  who  sent,  on  the 
1 8th,  a  bold  and  vigorous  letter  in  answer  to 
a  note  received  on  the  5th  from  the  Governor 
of  Connecticut.  In  this  letter  he  said  : 

"  It  is  sufficiently  notorious  and  can  also 
appear  by  their  requests,  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  East  End  of  Long  Island  have  submit- 
ted and  declared  themselves  subjects  of  their 
High  Mightinesses,  delivering  up  their  colors, 
constables'  staves,  making  nominations  for 
Schout,  Magistrates  and  Secretaries ;  where- 
upon their  election  also  duly  followed.  Fur- 
thermore we  have  been  requested  by  their 
deputies  to  excuse  the  elected  Magistrates 
from  coming  hither  to  take  the  oath,  but  as  it 
was  necessary  to  send  commissioners  thither 
in  order  to  bring  the  people  under  oath,  that 
they  may  be  qualified  to  administer  the  same 
to  the  magistrates  in  like  manner,  which  we 
were  pleased  to  grant  them,  and  which  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  complied  with  by 


I6O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

them,  had  not  some  evil  disposed  persons 
gone  from  you  and  dissuaded  them.  I  am 
here  to  maintain  the  right  of  their  High  Might- 
inesses and  His  Serene  Highness,  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  my  Lords  and  Masters ;  therefore 
give  little  heed  to  your  strange  and  threaten- 
ing words,  knowing  to  put,  with  God's  bless- 
ing and  the  force  entrusted  unto  me,  such 
means  into  operation  as  will  reduce  rebels  to 
due  obedience,  and  to  make  those  who  up- 
hold them  in  their  unrighteous  proceedings 
to  alter  their  evil  designs." 

But  nothing  more  was  done  through  the 
winter  to  bring  the  people  of  Southold  under 
the  power  of  the  Dutch  ;  and  with  the  return 
of  Spring  it  became  known  that  a  treaty  of 
peace  between  England  and  the  Netherlands 
had  been  signed  at  Westminster  on  the  Qth 
of  February,  restoring  New  York  to  the  form- 
er in  exchange  for  Surinam  in  South  America, 
though  it  was  not  until  the  loth  of  November 
that  the  Dutch  formally  yielded  up  the  pos- 
sessions on  the  Hudson  and  the  neighboring 
waters  which  they  had  held  first  and  last  for 
nearly  sixty  years. 

Thus  Southold  was  reluctantly  drawn  back 
into  subjection  to  the  government  of  the 
Duke  of  York.  It  remained  a  part  of  his 


FRUITS    OF    PEACE.  l6l 

province  until  he  became  the  King  of  Eng- 
land by  the  death  of  his  brother,  Charles  IL, 
in  1685.  Then  the  province  itself  became  a 
royal  one ;  and  it  so  continued  until  the  War 
of  Independence. 

Though  suffering  greatly  from  changes  and 
war,  the  early  settlers  laid  here  the  foundations 
of  liberty  and  religion.  The  lands  which  they 
had  purchased  from  the  savages,  they  endeav- 
ored to  bring  under  the  fruitful  influence  of 
culture ;  to  improve  the  place  by  their  own 
industry  and  piety ;  and  to  enrich  it  with 
Christian  homes.  They  desired  to  possess 
the  freedom  of  commerce  as  well  as  the  fruits 
of  their  own  toil  in  every  field  of  labor,  and 
all  the  privileges  which  they  had  inherited  as 
freemen  of  England.  But  in  all  their  aims 
and  plans,  they  gave  religion  the  chief  place. 
This  was  the  sacred  ark  in  the  midst  of  the 
host,  whether  the  tribes  were  on  the  march  or 
in  the  camp.  They  made  everything  else 
subordinate  and  subservient  to  the  worship  of 
God  according  to  his  word.  Their  example 
is  a  constant  incitement  to  their  posterity  to 
emulate  their  faith.  They  lived  here  as  pil- 
grims ;  for  they  desired  a  better  country,  even 
the  heavenly.  Their  possessions  on  earth 
were  few,  and  their  aspirations  for  the  riches 


1 62  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD; 

and  honors  of  this  world  restrained  within 
narrow  limits.  The  inventories  of  their  goods 
disclose  to  us  the  property  which  they  held 
and  used,  and  the  style  in  which  they  lived. 

They  had  lands,  houses,  barns,  fences, 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  fowls  of  vari- 
ous kinds.  They  used  a  few  rude  utensils  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil — carts,  ploughs,  har- 
rows, hoes,  forks,  scythes,  sickles,  axes,  &c. 

A  few  of  the  inhabitants  were  mechanics 
and  artisans,  such  as  carpenters,  blacksmiths, 
weavers,  and  shoemakers.  But  far  the  great- 
er part  of  them  wrought  directly  upon  the 
land  or  the  water. 

Within  their  dwellings  they  used  tables, 
chairs,  desks,  drawers,  chests,  bedsteads,  beds, 
bedding,  shovels,  tongs,  andirons,  trammels, 
pothooks,  pots,  pans,  knives,  wooden  ware, 
pewter  ware,  especially  plates  and  spoons, 
and  sometimes  a  little  earthen  ware,  and  per- 
haps a  few  pieces  of  silver,  as  a  tankard  and 
a  cup.  Nearly  all  had  guns,  and  some  had 
swords  and  books.  But  stoves,  tin  ware, 
plated  ware  of  every  kind,  china,  porcelain, 
queens  ware,  and  all  kinds  of  fine  work  of 
the  potter's  art  seem  to  have  been  unknown 
among  them.  So  were  table-cloths,  and  es- 
pecially table-forks,  which  were  used  in  Italy 


MODfi    OF    LIFE.  163 

as  early  perhaps  as  the  settlement  of  South- 
old,  but  not  in  England  until  many  years 
thereafter.  They  had  no  carpets,  and  few 
had  any  pictures,  clocks,  watches,  musical  in- 
struments, or  works  of  art  for  the  adornment 
of  their  homes.  Some  had  candlesticks,  but 
few  had  lamps.  Some  had  simple  implements 
for  the  manufacture  of  flax  and  wool  into 
cloth,  and  the  families  generally  had  scissors 
and  needles  sufficient  for  making  the  homely 
garments  which  they  wore. 

They  had  little  food,  or  even  condiments, 
brought  from  beyond  the  Town — no  coffee 
nor  tea.  They  were  able  to  gather  a  scanty 
supply  of  wild  fruits  ;  but  they  had  little  or 
no  other.  They  greatly  depended  upon  the 
mortar  and  pestle  to  prepare  their  grain  for 
cooking.  Their  resources,  employments,  im- 
plements, furniture,  food,  manners  and  habits 
were  unlike  our  own  to  a  degree  which  we 
cannot  easily  understand. 

They  had  nets  and  boats  for  fishing  and  other 
purposes  ;  but  how  unlike  those  now  in  use ! 

Land  was  cheap ;  but  domestic  animals 
were  dear;  and  wild  beasts  and  Indians'  wolf- 
ish dogs  preyed  upon  them  destructively. 

In  the  experience  of  many  privations  and 
hardships,  the  early  settlers  were  social,  kind- 


164  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD, 

ly  and  helpful  to  each  other,  bearing  each 
other's  burdens,  and  so  fulfilling  the  law  of 
Christ.  There  was  much  need  of  it ;  for  they 
were  destitute  of  many  advantages  and  con- 
veniences which  we  deem  indispensable. 
They  had  the  ministry  of  God's  word  for  their 
spiritual  comfort  and  improvement ;  but  for 
the  relief  of  their  physical  maladies  in  cases 
of  sickness  and  accident  they  could  not  ob- 
tain the  benefit  of  the  services  of  an  intelli- 
gent and  skillful  physician.  When  death 
came,  they  buried  their  dead  with  all  serious- 
ness ;  but  they  did  it  without  funeral  solemni- 
ties in  order  to  protest  against  wakes,  masses, 
prayers  for  the  dead,  and  the  whole  round  of 
superstitious  rites  and  ceremonies  which  are 
practiced  in  some  places  without  the  authori- 
ty of  the  word  of  God. 

The  head  of  the  household  conducted  the 
family  worship  day  by  day,  and  the  minister 
conducted  the  public  worship  and  explained 
and  applied  the  Scriptures  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  on  lecture,  fast  and  thanks-giving  days. 

The  people  were  in  a  high  degree  obedient 
to  God  and  just  to  each  other.  They  lived  at 
peace  among  themselves,  and  were  in  a  good 
degree  prosperous  as  well  as  contented  and 
thankful. 


PART  II. 

PERIOD  OF  THE   MINISTRY   OF  THE 
REV.  JOSHUA  HOBART. 

1674-1717. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  second  pastor  of  the  First  Church  of 
Southold  was  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart.  He 
was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Hobart, 
and  a  grandson  of  Edmund  Hobart. 

His  grandfather  came  from  England  to 
Massachusetts  in  1633,  and  settled  in  Charles- 
town  ;  but  removed  two  years  later  to  H ing- 
ham,  where  he  lived  eleven  years  and  died  in 
1646.  From  1639  to  1642  he  represented 
the  Town  of  Hingham  in  the  General  Court. 

He  lived  in  England  in  a  place  where  the 
people  generally  were  very  wicked  ;  but  he 
and  his  wife  were  excellent  Christians,  and 
took  care  to  train  up  their  children  in  the 
knowledge  and  practice  of  the  true  religion. 

Their  son  Peter  was  born  in  Hingham, 
Norfolk  county,  England,  near  the  close  of 


1 68  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

the  year  1604.  While  he  was  very  young, 
they  sent  him  to  a  grammar  school  near  where 
they  lived,  and  in  this  school  he  advanced  rap- 
idly in  his  studies.  They  sent  him  afterwards 
to  the  free  school  in  Lynn  ;  and  when  he  had 
gained  the  needful  preparation,  he  went  to 
the  University  of  Cambridge.  He  pursued 
his  studies  in  the  University  until  he  became 
a  Bachelor  of  Arts.  During  his  whole  college 
course,  he  maintained  a  high  character  as  a 
diligent,  sober  and  pious  person. 

After  his  graduation,  he  taught  a  grammar 
school,  and  lodged  in  the  house  of  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Established  Church.  This  reclor 
was  not  friendly  to  the  Puritans,  but  he  some- 
times employed  young  Hobart,  the  pious 
teacher,  to  preach  for  him.  This  continued 
for  a  time,  and  then  the  young  man  returned 
to  the  University  and  took  his  degree  of  Mas- 
ter of  Arts.  Thereafter,  he  preached  in  sev- 
eral places  as  he  had  opportunity  ;  and  having 
married  an  excellent  wife,  discreet  and  frugal, 
like  himself,  he  became  at  length  a  successful 
minister  at  Haverhill,  on  the  western  border 
of  Suffolk  county,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  miles 
southeast  of  Cambridge.  He  remained  in 

o 

England  two  years  after  his  parents,  brothers 


REV.    PETER   HOBART.  169 

and  sisters  had  found  a  new  home  in  Massa* 
chusetts.  They  were  urgent  for  him  to  join 
them  in  the  new  world.  Their  persuasions, 
and  the  difficulties  which  he  experienced  on 
account  of  his  Puritanism,  induced  him  to 
cross  the  ocean.  He  embarked  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1635,  with  his  wife  and  four  children. 
They  had  a  long  and  tiresome  passage,  and 
were  sick  nearly  all  the  voyage ;  but  at  the 
end  of  it  they  reached  Charlestown  in  safety, 
where  his  kindred  were  ready  to  meet  them 
with  a  joyful  welcome.  Several  churches 
soon  invited  him  to  become  their  minister ; 
but  he  preferred  to  make  with  his  friends  a 
new  plantation.  They  did  this,  and  called 
the  place  Hingham.  Here  he  gathered  a 
church  and  continued  to  be  its  industrious 
and  faithful  pastor  for  about  forty  years. 

Soon  after  he  came  to  this  country  his  wife 
died.  This  was  a  great  bereavement  and  sor- 
row to  him.  But  he  afterwards  married  an- 
other, who  proved  to  be,  like  the  first,  a  great 
blessing  to  him. 

After  he  had  been  settled  some  time  in 
Hingham,  the  church  in  Haverhill,  whence  he 
had  come,  earnestly  invited  him  to  return  and 
become  their  pastor  again.  He  felt  the  at- 


I7O  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

tra<5lions  of  the  old  country ;  but  all  things 
being  considered,  he  thought  it  best  to  decline 
the  call. 

In  the  spring  of  1670  he  was  very  ill  and 
likely  to  die  ;  but  he  had  a  strong  desire  to 
live  longer,  especially  to  make  some  direct 
efforts  in  behalf  of  the  youth  of  his  congrega- 
tion, and  to  superintend  the  education  of  his 
own  younger  children.  God  granted  his  de- 
sire, and  he  lived  until  January  20,  1678-9, 
when  he  was  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his 
age.  In  the  mean  time  he  preached  many 
sermons  to  the  young,  and  made  other  spe- 
cial efforts  for  their  benefit.  He  had  eleven 
children — eight  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Four  of  his  sons  became  Ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Joshua  was  born  in  England,  came  to 
this  country  with  his  parents,  pursued  the 
college  course  of  studies  and  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1650;  was  ordained  the 
Pastor  of  Southold,  October  7,  1674,  and 
died  February  28,  1716-7.  Jeremiah  was 
born  in  England,  April  6,  1631  ;  was  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  with  his  brother  Joshua  in 
the  class  of  1650  ;  was  ordained  at  Topsfield, 
Massachusetts,  October  2,  1672  ;  was  dismiss- 
ed September  21,  1680;  was  installed  the 


REV.  PETER  HOBART'S  SONS.  171 

Pastor  of  Hempstead,  Long  Island,  in  1683; 
was  dismissed  thence  about  seventeen  years 
thereafter  ;  was  installed  the  Pastor  of  Had- 
dam,  Connecticut,  November  14,  1700;  and 
died  March  1715,  aged  eighty-four  years. 
His  wife,  Elizabeth  Whitney,  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Joan  of  Acre,  daughter  of  Edward  I.  of 
England,  and  one  of  the  ancestors  of  the  dis- 
tinguished lawyer,  Jeremiah  Mason,  of  Boston. 
[See  Walvvorth's  Mason  Genealogy.  15  ISL 
E.  Genealogical  Reo-istL-rl.  Gershonij  another 

o  o>  J 

son  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Hobart,  was  born  in 
Hingham,  Massachusetts;  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1667;  was  ordained  Pastor  of 
Groton,  Massachusetts,  November  26,  1679; 
and  died  December  19,  1707,  aged  sixty-two 
years.  Nehemiah  was  born  in  Hingham,  No- 
vember 21,  1648;  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
in  the  same  year  as  his  brother  Gershom.  He 
preached  two  years  at  Newton,  Massachusetts, 
and  was  then  ordain  :d  there,  December  23, 
1674,  and  died  August  25,  1712,  aged  sixty- 
three  years.  Another  son,  Japheth,  also  grad- 
uated in  the  same  class  with  Gershom  and 
Nehemiah.  He  was  born  at  Hingham  in 
April  1647;  graduated  when  he  was  twenty 
years  old,  went  two  years  afterward  to  Eng- 


HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD, 

land  as  the  surgeon  of  a  ship,  intending  to 
proceed  thence  to  the  East  Indies ;  but  noth- 
ing more  was  ever  heard  of  him. 

The  Hon.  Solomon  Lincoln,  the  historian 
of  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  and  President  of 
the  Webster  National  Bank  of  Boston,  has 
generously  given  me  the  benefit  of  his  knowl- 
edge in  respect  to  our  second  pastor.  He 
writes : 

"Webster  Bank, 

(39  State  Street  and  2  Congress  Street,) 

BOSTON,  June  27,  1862. 
Rev.  Epher  Whitaker, 

DEAR  SIR:  *  *  *  I  have  devoted  a  good 
deal  of  my  time  to  the  early  history  of  the 
Town  of  Hingham  in  which  I  was  born,  and 
have  copious  notes  respecting  it,  which  I  have 
collected  with  a  view  (perhaps  not  soon  to  be 
realized)  of  publishing  a  more  extended  his- 
tory of  Hingham  than  is  contained  in  the 
small  volume  which  I  published  some  thirty- 
five  years  since. 

I  suppose' I  can  give  as  much  information 
relating  to  the  Hobarts  as  can  be  procured 
elsewhere,  and  shall  be  very  willing  to  corre- 
spond with  you  respecting  them. 

*  I  have  long  desired  to 
trace  the  descendants  of  Joshua  Hobart  and 
to  ascertain  the  precise  line  of  the  Bishop ' s 
ancestors. 


REV,    JOSHUA   HOBART.  173 

*  *     John    Sloss    Hobart,    the 

Judge,  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Noah  Hobart,  the 
distinguished  minister  of  Fairfield,  Connecti- 
cut. Noah  was  a  son  of  David,  a  farmer  of 
our  Hingham,  and  David  was  a  son  of  Rev. 
Peter  Hobart." 

Subsequently  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  me  and 
said : 

"  I  enclose  a  memorandum  of  some  facts 
connected  with  the  history  of  Ri^v.  Joshua 
Hobart,  of  Southold,  which  may  be  of  use  to 
you.  I  have  given  the  authority  for  all  my 
statements." 

The  following  is  the  memorandum  mention- 
ed above. 

"  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart,  son  of  Rev.  Peter 
Hobart,  the  first  minister  of  Hing-ham,  Massa- 
chusetts, was  born  in  England,  and  came  to 
this  country  with  his  father,  mother  and  three 
other  children  in  1635,  (see  Hobart's  Diary,) 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1650, 
(College  Catalogue,)  went  to  Barbadoes  in 
1655,  (Manuscript  of  President  StiLs,)  and 
there  married  Margaret  Vassal,  daughter  of 
William  Vassal.  Thence  he  went  to  London. 
He  returned  to  New  England  in  1669,  (Stiles.) 
His  wife  Margaret  having  deceased,  he  mar- 

O  C5 

ried  Mary  Rainsford  at  Boston,  January  16, 
1671-2,  (Stiles.)  He  was  settled  in  the  min- 
istry at  Southold,  Long  Island,  October  7, 


174  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

1674,  (American  Quarterly  Register,  Vol.  viii, 
p.  336,)  and  died  there  the  '  latter  end  of  Feb- 
ruary 1716-7,'  (Hobart's  Diary).  He  surviv- 
ed all  who  were  educated  before  him  at  Har- 
vard, and  it  is  believed  all  who  were  graduat- 
ed before  1659,  (Am.  Quarterly  Register, 
Vol.  viii,  p.  336).  Excepting  Thomas  Cheev- 
er,  it  is  believed  that  he  obtained  the  greatest 
age  of  any  of  the  sons  of  Harvard  during  the 
first  century  of  its  existence,  (Am.  Quarterly 
Register,  Vol.  viii,  p.  336).  Of  him  Presi- 
dent Stiles  remarks :  '  He  was  an  eminent 
physician,  civilian  and  divine,  and  every  way 
a  great,  learned,  pious  man.'  How  many 
children  he  had  (if  any)  by  his  first  wife  is 
uncertain.  In  an  account  of  his  family  fur- 
nished to  Rev.  Dr.  Stiles  by  Rev.  Noah  Ho- 
bart  of  Fairfield,  (a  nephew  of  Rev.  Joshua,) 
he  says  he  thinks  Rev.  Joshua  left  three  chil- 
dren by  his  first  wife.  This  could  not  be ;  for 
he  was  married  to  her  April  16,  1656,  and  in  a 
deed  dated  July  18,  1657,  she  is  called  his  late 
wife,  (Stiles).  By  his  second  wife,  he  had 
several  children,  namely:  'twins  born  Octo- 
ber, 1672 — one  died;  the  other  was  called 
Aletheia  [that  is,  Truth ;]  Irene  [that  is, 
Peace,]  born  at  Boston,  April  1674;  Peter 
[that  is,  Stone,]  born  February  28,  1675-6  at 
Southold,'  and  perhaps  others,  (Stiles).  Ac- 
cording to  Rev.  Noah  Hobart's  account,  his 
uncle,  Rev.  Joshua,  died  at  Southold  '  some 
time  in  the  winter  of  1616-7,'  (Stiles)." 


VASSAL     RELATIONS,  175 

Charles  B.  Moore,  Esq.  in  his  remarkably 
comprehensive,  accurate  and  priceless  "  In- 
dexes of  Southold,"  says  that  our  second  pas- 
tor sailed  for  Barbadoes  July,  16,  1655  ;  ar- 
rived in  London,  July  5,  1656;  and  returned 
to  New  England  September  5,  1659. 

Mr.  Moore  states,  in  respect  to  the  first 
wife,  Margaret  Vassal,  that  William  Vassal, 
the  father,  was  deceased,  and  that  Nicholas 
Ware  was  acting  executor.  He  adds  : 

"  The  dates  arranged  appear  thus  : 

1656.  March  3.     Deed  signed  by  Afargar- 
et  and   Mary  Vassal  for  interest  in  lands  in 
Massachusetts. 

April  1 6.  The  marriage  at  Barbadoes,  of 
Joshua  Hobart  and  Margaret  Vassal. 

May  8.  The  above  deeds  not  yet  deliver- 
ed in  Massachusetts,  and  thus  affected  by  the 
marriage.  Power  of  attorney  by  Nicholas 
Ware,  executor,  to  Cap/.  Joshua  Hubbard,  of 
Hingham,  to  sell  property  in  Massachusetts. 

1657.  July  1 8.     Deed  of  this  date,  signed 
by  Joshua  Hubbard,   Judith  Vassal  and  her 
husband,  and  Adams,  husband  of  another  sis- 
ter, stating  that  J.  H.  signed  it  'on   behalf  of 
his  late  wife.' 

Enough  is  not  shown  of  this  deed  or  release 
to  know  when  or  where  it  was  signed  by  J. 
H.,  nor  whether  by  the  Captain,  under  a  pow- 
er of  attorney,  or  the  clergyman  as  husband ; 


176  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

if  the  latter,  probably  not  until  after  Septem- 
ber 1659,  when  he  returned.  Prof*  Stiles's 
MSS.,  which  give  the  precise  date  of  his  re- 
turn, state  that  he  had  three  children  by  his 
first  wife,  and  that  she  died  four  days  after 
his  return,  which  would  be  on  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1659;  and  if  she  died,  as  was  too 
common  in  child-birth  or  with  a  young  child, 
after  a  sea  voyage,  there  is  no  discrepancy  in 
having  three  children ;  nor  anything  very  re- 
markable in  the  doctor's  charge  for  services, 
or  in  the  mere  date  of  a  deed  prepared  to  be 
signed  by  others  first,  and  waiting  such  return 
for  her  signature,  then  altered  and  signed  by 
the  husband  for  his  late  wife.  (See  1 7  N.  E. 
Reg.,  p.  58)." 

This  theory  includes  all  the  known  facts, 
and  therefore  has  the  advantage  of  every 
other  which  fails  to  give  each  the  position 
that  seems  to  be  its  proper  place. 

The  Rev.  John  Youngs  died  on  the  24th 
of  February  1672.  The  people  of  Southold 
were  thus  providentially  bereft  of  pastoral 
oversight  and  care.  But  they  were  not  will- 
ing to  remain  destitute  of  the  ministry  of 
God's  word.  On  the  contrary,  they  were 
prompt  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  a  well  quali- 
fied pastor.  This  is  clearly  manifest  in  the 
light  of  their  action  which  is  recorded  as  fol- 
lows in  the  Town  Records,  (Book  B,  p.  87). 


AN    HONEST,    GODLY    MAN.  177 

"April  ye  i,  1672. 

At  a  plenary  meeting  then  held  in  South- 
old  it  was  votted  then  and  agreed  that  the 

o 

inhabitants  wold  provid  themselves  of  an 
honest  godly  man  to  performe  the  offis  of  a 
minister  amongst  them  and  that  they  wold 
allowe  and  pay  to  the  said  minister  sixty 
pounds  sterling  by  the  yeare  :  and  yt  this  pay 
should  be  Raised  Ratte  wise  by  estates  as 
other  Rattes  are  Raysed  uppon  all  the  inhab- 
itants. To  which  end  it  was  agreed  upon  by 
vote  that  Captain  John  Youngs  should  go  in 
to  the  bay  and  usse  his  best  indevor  for  the 
obtaining  of  such  a  man  above  menshoned  to 
live  amongst  us :  and  also  agreed  that  he  the 
said  John  Youngs  should  have  five  pounds  for 
his  labors  and  to  dispach  this  his  Trust  some 
tyme  be  twixt  the  date  hereof  and  the  29  of 
the  next  September — the  which  he  promised 
to  doe." 

"The  bay"  into  which  the  eldest  son  of 
the  first  pastor  was  authorized  to  sail,  in  order 
to  obtain  a  worthy,  honorable,  godly  minister, 
was  of  course  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  which 
colony  the  only  college  at  that  time  in  America 
had  been  doing  its  work  for  thirty-four  years. 

The  result  of  this  effort  to  obtain  a  suitable 
pastor  appears  in  the  Town  Records  under 
date  of  May  22,  1674,  (Book  A,  p.  159),  as 
follows : 


1/  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

"  Southold  22nd  May  1674. 
"  In  a  publique  meeting  the  day  &  yeare 
abovesaid  was  voted  &  agreed  by  the  Inhab- 
itants of  the  aforenamed  place,  that  the  Revd 
Mr.  Joshua  Huberd  should  heave  &  hould  for 
his  own  his  Heirs  &  Assignes  use  for  ever  a 
Tra6l  of  land  which  said  land  is  part  of  the 
Neck  called  Hallocks-neck  &  lyeth  between 
the  comon  on  the  east  &  the  land  of  Symon 
Grover,  Nathan  Moore  and  John  Core  senr 
on  the  west.  And  thirty  acres  of  woodland 
lying  towards  the  North  Sea  &  joyning  to  the 
inclosed  land  of  Mr.  John  Elton.  And  all  the 
meadow  lying  in  the  Neck  sometimes  called 
by  the  name  of  Pooles  neck.  And  a  second 
lot  of  comona^e. — Also  the  said  Inhabit,  have 

<I3 

agreed  &  doe  here  promise  to  lay  out  one 
hundred  pound  upon  a  dwelling  house  for  the 
said  Rd  Mr.  Huburd.  And  have  further 
agreed  and  concluded  that  the  constable  and 
selectmen  shall  see  that  their  Ministers  due 
from  the  people  be  brought  in  to  him  yearly. 
"The  Neck  within  named  always  was  and 
is  known  by  ye  name  of  little  Hogg-neck  & 
not  Poles  neck  though  so  worded  through  a 
mistake.  And  the  name  Pols  neck  is  altered 
to  ye  ainciant  name  Little  Hogg-neck  by  a 
clear  voat  at  a  Town  meeting  held  ye  2d  of 
April  1680.  Also  at  the  same  meeting  ye 
Town  did  engage  to  secure  ye  meadow. 


MR.    HOBARTS   SETTLEMENTS.  179 

"  Memorandum. 

"  That  in  ye  yeare  one 

thousand  six  hundred  seventy  four  it  was 
agreed  yt  Mr.  Hubart  &  his  heirs  &  Assigns 
shall  possess  &  enjoy  for  ever  ye  land  form- 
erly in  ye  possession  &  occupation  of  John 
Core  sen  :  bounded  northward  with  Nathaniel 
Moore,  &  on  ye  westward  with  ye  kreek." 

On  the  third  of  April  1674,  (See  Town 
Records,  Book  A,  p.  57,)  it  was  voted  by  the 
people  that  Mr.  Hobart's  yearly  payments 
should  end  about  the  25th  of  March,  which 
was  the  beginning  of  the  civil  or  legal  year 
throughout  England  and  the  British  dominions 
until  the  change  from  old  style  to  new  style 
in  1752. 

On  the  1 3th  of  May,  1678,  it  was  voted  at 
a  Town  Meeting  that  the  twenty  pounds 
promised  Mr.  Hobart  to  be  added  to  the  four- 
score agreed  to  before  he  cams  hither,  should 
be  ratefied  and  paid  to  him  as  the  other  four- 
score. 

It  is  evident  that  he  had  a  liberal  settlement 
and  support.  A  shilling  then  was  worth 
about  a  dollar  now,  and  a  pound  at  that  time 
nearly  equivalent  to  a  double  eagle  to-day. 
He  received  for  his  own  forever,  a  settlement 
of  some  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  a  house 


l8o  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

relatively  as  good  as  a  dwelling  worth  four 
thousand  dollars  at  the  present  day.  This 
would  be  so  valuable  that  only  a  few  in  the 
parish  would  equal  it.  His  salary  for  the  first 
four  years  was  eighty  pounds  a  year.  This 
was  relatively  more  than  three  thousand  dol- 
lars would  be  now;  and,  four  years  after  his 
ordination,  it  was  increased  to  one  hundred 
pounds  annually,  equivalent  to  four  thousand 
dollars  a  year  at  the  present  time.  The  Town 
Records  contain  many  transcripts  of  his  re- 
ceipts for  his  salary,  which  was  nearly  always 
paid  to  him  promptly  at  the  end  of  each  year 
during  the  forty-three  years  of  his  pastorate. 
It  appears  from  his  receipt  for  the  year  1690, 
that  seventy  pounds  and  eight  pence  of  his 
salary  were  paid  by  the  people  living  west  of 
Thomas  Benedict's  creek — now  called  Mill 
Creek — and  twenty-nine  pounds,  eleven  shil- 
lings and  four  pence  were  paid  by  those  who 
lived  east  of  Thomas's  Creek.  The  town  and 
parish  at  that  time  extended  westward  to 
Wading  River,  and  the  population  had  spread 
farther  in  that  direction  than  the  present  lim- 
its of  the  town.  On  each  side  of  Tom's  creek 
there  has  been  perhaps  since  that  year  some 
twenty  fold  increase  of  population;  but  on 


EXCHANGE    OF   LAND.  l8l 

side  the  greater  relative  increase,  it 
might  not  be  easy  to  determine  with  preci- 
sion. 

•Closely  connected  with  the  settlement  of 
the  second  pastor  is  a  letter  which  he  wrote 
to  his  people,  April  3,  1685,  namely: 

"  To  my  beloved  friends  and  neighbors, 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Town,  now  assembled 
together  at  their  Town  Meeting  :  Salutation. 

Sirs:  These  lines  are  to  request  you  to 
do  me  the  like  favor  that  you  have  often  done 
to  others  since  I  came  to  this  place,  that  is, 
to  exchange  the  land  that  you  gave  me  at  the 
North-sea  lots  for  the  like  value  of  land  on 
Pine  Neck  where  I  have  already  a  small  rec- 
ompense, instead  of  such  meadows  as  were 
promised  elsewhere,  but  could  not  be  obtain- 
ed, which  as  it  is  situated  yields  me  no  benefit 
at  all.  So  are  also  the  other  lands  at  North- 
sea  lots  wholly  unuseful  to  me,  the  parcels 
being  so  far  distant  from  each  other.  But  if 
you  would  please  to  grant  me  this  exchange, 
then  I  might  make  some  advantage  on  Pine 
Neck  that  might  satisfy  me.  But  if  you  de- 
ny me,  as  I  hope  you  will  not,  for  it  will  make 
both  parcels  altogether  unprofitable  to  me, 
which  I  hope  none  of  you  do  design.  I  shall 
take  it  as  a  great  testimony  of  your  love  and 
respect  to  me  if  you  grant  me  this  my  desire, 
which  if  you  shall  do,  then  if  you  please  to 
choose  one  man  in  behalf  of  the  Town  to  join 


1 82  HISTORY   OF   SOUTH  OLD. 

with  another  of  yourselves  whom  I  shall  de- 
sire in  my  behalf  for  to  estimate  and  effect 
this  matter  between  us,  your  so  doing  will 
oblige  me  who  am  already  and  still  to  remain 
your  friend  and  servant, 

JOSHUA  HOBARTT." 

•  The  people  promptly  granted  his  request, 
and  appointed  Jonathan  Horton,  the  youngest 
son  of  Barnabas  Horton,  to  a6l  in  the  matter. 

This  exchange  of  land  put  him  into  the  pos- 
session of  all  the  more  beautiful  portion  of 
Pine  Neck — the  lower  part — extending  the 
whole  way  across  from  Dickerson's  Creek — 
now  Jockey  Creek — to  Goose  Creek.  This 
part  was  the  more  convenient  to  him ;  for  his 
dwelling  was  built  on  Hallock's  Neck,  north- 
ward of  the  cove  in  which  Dickerson's  Creek 
and  Young's  Creek  unite  to  flow  into  the  Pe- 
conic  Bay.  Along  the  sand  bar  between  this 
cove  and  the  bay,  teams  can  pass  at  low  tide 
from  Hallock's  Neck  to  Pine  Neck  and  return 
without  difficulty,  while  boats  can  pass  from 
one  of  these  Necks  to  the  other  with  ease  at 
any  stage  of  the  tide. 

His  dwelling  was  built  a  few  rods  southeast 
of  the  site  of  the  present  dwelling  of  Mr. 
Robert  Linsley.  Fragments  of  the  materials 
of  the  chimney,  now  mingled  with  the  com- 


THE    OLD    PARSONAGE.  I  £3 

mon  soil,  mark  the  spot ;  and  the  old  well  is 
able  at  this  day  to  supply  an  abundance  of 
sweet  water,  as  it  did  two  hundred  years  ago. 
I  have  often  thought,  while  standing  on  the 
site  of  this  old  parsonage,  that  it  was  built  in 
the  most  beautiful  place  for  a  residence  with- 
in the  bounds  of  the  parish.  It  is  the  central 
point  of  a  scene  of  land  and  water,  and  fields 
and  woods,  that  never  loses  its  charm  from 
age  to  age.  It  is  not  less  salubrious  than 
picturesque.  The  first  master  of  the  house 
lived  in  it  for  nearly  a  score  of  years  after  he 
had  attained  the  proverbial  three-score  and 
ten.  He  retained  the  ownership  of  it  for 
twenty-seven  years,  until  he  was  more  than 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  then  he  sold  it  to 
the  people  of  his  charge,  that  it  might  remain 
a  parsonage  forever.  This  sale  took  place 
1701,  and  the  last  payment  for  the  property 
was  made  to  Mr.  Hobart  two  years  later.  It 
was  subsequently  the  home  of  these  pastors 
who  succeeded  him,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Benjam- 
in Woolsey,  James  Davenport,  William  Throop 
and  John  Storrs,  until  1787. 

There  is  an  official  list  of  the  tax-payers  of 
the  Town  made  within  a  year  of  the  second 
pastor's  settlement.  This  gives  us  the  names 


184  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

of  the  chief  men  and  two  of  the  women  who 
were  under  his  pastoral  care  at  the  beginning 
of  his  ministry.  It  is  as  follows  : 

John  Paine  ;£ii9  io.y 

Wm.  Robinson  92    10 

John  Greete  124  oo 

Caleb  Curtis  106  oo 

Walter  Jones  68  oo 

Giddion  Yongs  141    10 

Abraha.  Whithere  159  oo 

Tho.  Terry  129   10 

John  Tuthill  206   10 

Richard  Browne  370  oo 

Samll  King  169   10 

Joseph  Maps  20  10 

Samll  Grouer  37  oo 

Tho.  Moore  Junr  186  oo 

Jonathan  Moore  147   10 

Capt.  John  Youngs  228  oo 

Mr.  John  Youngs  Jr  148  oo 

Peter  Simons  18  oo 

Mr.  John  Conklin  358   10 

Jacob  Conklin  130  oo 

John  Cory  44  oo 

Richard  Clark  62  oo 

John  Booth  147  oo 

John  Curwin  228    10 

Barnabs  Horton  305  oo 

Jonathan  Horton  171    10 

Richard  Beniamin  247  oo 

Beniam.  Moore  11800 


TAX  LIST.  185 

Mr,  John  Bud  300  oo 

Abraham  Cory  64  10 

Joshua  Horton  197  oo 

Barnabas  Wines  152  oo 

Isaac  Ouenton  232  oo 

Mr.  Tho,  Hucisson  176   10 

Jacob  Gary  93  oo 

Tho.  Reeues  137   10 

John  Reeues  54  10 

Thomas  Rider  160   10 
John  Franklin  & 

John  Wigins  176  oo 

Jeremy  Valle  152  oo 

Edward  Petty  95  oo 

Simon  Grover  70  oo 

Nathall  Moore  32  oo 

Mr.  Thos.  Moore  Sr           127  oo 

Joseph  Yongs  78  oo 

Isack  Reeues  30  oo 

Samuel  Youngs  72  oo 

Stephen  Bayley  69  oo 

Mr.  John  Youngs  marinr     53  oo 

Samll  Glouer  75    10 

Beniam  Yongs  142  oo 
Christopr  Yongs  Sr.           120   10 

Peeter  Paine  58  oo 

Dainell  Terry  126  oo 

Peeter  Dicisson  250   10 

Richard  Cozens  22  oo 

Nathall  Terry  219  oo 

Samll  Wines  78   10 


1 86  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

Mrs.  Mary  Welles  217   10 

Simieon  Beniam  106  oo 

Will  Colleman  59  oo 

Calib  Horton  282  oo 

Tho.  Maps  Jr.  99  oo 

Thomas  Tusteene  64  oo 

Thomas  Maps  Sr  227    10 

Thomas  Terrill  109  oo 

James  Reeues  244   10 

Will  Reeues  69   10 

John  Swasie  Sr  200  oo 

John  Swasie  Jr  62    10 

Joseph  Swasie  66  oo 

Will  Halloke  361    10 

John  Hallok  82  oo 

Richard  Howell  77  oo 

Thomas  Osman  194  oo 

Will  Poole  1 14  oo 
Christopher  Yongs  Junr      56  oo 

John  Sallmon  26  oo 

James  Lee  10  oo 

Benin  Horton  232    10 

Sarah  Yongs  72    10 

On  this  list  it  is  written  ;  "  Mr.  John  Bud 
not  being  at  home  is  lurnpt  at  by  ye  last  year 
accept." 

The  list  contains  eighty-two  names.  To 
these  must  be  added  twenty-five  more,  for 
those  cases  in  which  there  were  more  than 
one  adult  male  in  the  family  ;  and  then  taking 


WEALTHY    MEN.  187 

away  two  for  Mrs.  Wells  and  Mrs.  Youngs, 
the  number  of  full  grown  men  appears  to  be 
one  hundred  and  five.  Most  likely  a  few 
were  not  put  into  this  list. 

As  to  their  possessions,  let  the  shilling  then 
be  considered  equal  to  the  dollar  now,  and  the 
Southold  tax  list  of  1675  compares  favorably 
with  the  last  one  made — that  of  1880.  Of 
the  more  wealthy  men,  Richard  Brown  is  tax- 
ed for  ^370  ;  William  Hallock,  361  10  ;  John 
Conklin,  348 ;  Barnabas  Horton,  305  ;  John 
Budd,  300.  Below  these  figures  we  see  Ca- 
leb Horton,  282  ;  Peter  Dickerson,  250 ; 
Richard  Benjamin,  247 ;  James  Reeve,  244 ; 
Benjamin  Horton,  232  10;  Isaac  Overton, 
232;  John  Corwin,  228  10;  Capt.  John 
Youngs,  228;  Thomas  Mapes,  Sr.,  227  10; 
Nathaniel  Terry,  219  ;  Mrs.  Mary  Wells,  217  ; 
John  Tuthill,  206  10  ;  and  John  Swezey,  Sr., 
200.  Barnabas  Horton  and  four  of  his  sons 
are  assessed  for  £i  188.  Ten  of  the  Youngs- 
es  are  assessed  for  £i  1 1 1  10.  According  to 
this  list  more  of  the  property  in  the  town  be- 
longed to  Barnabas  Horton  and  four  of  his 
sons  in  1675  than  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  any 
other  family  name. 


PERIOD  OF  THE   MINISTRY   OF  THE 
REV.  JOSHUA  HOBART.— CONTINUED. 

1674-1717. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Only  six  weeks  after  the  ordination  and  set- 
tlement of  the  second  pastor  in  Southold,  the 
people  here  made  another  earnest  effort  to 
regain  a  firm  and  permanent  union  with  the 
Colony  of  Connecticut,  whose  charter  gave 
the  freemen  more  desirable  privileges  and 
larger  liberties  than  any  other  charter  granted 
by  an  English  Sovereign  to  an  American 
Colony.  Accordingly,  they  met  in  Town 
meeting  on  the  iyth  of  November,  1674,  and 
took  the  action  of  which  the  following  is  the 
record  in  Book  B,  p.  53 : 

"  Southold,  November  17,  1674. 
"  First.  We  the  inhabitants  of  sd  towne  be- 
ing legally  mett  together  doe  unanimously  re- 
solve and  owne,  that  we  are  at  this  present 
time  under  the  government  of  his  majestys 
Colony  of  Connetticut,  and  are  desirous  to 


HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

use  all  good  and  lawfull  means  so  to  continue. 

"  Secondly.  We  doe  unanimously  voat,  and 
desire,  that  all  spedy  application  be  made  to 
the  government  under  which  we  are,  that  we 
may  obtain  their  counsell  and  direction  how 
we  are  to  answer  the  demands  of  the  Honored 
Edmund  Andres  Esquire  Governour  of  New 
York. 

"  3ly.  We  doe  voat  &  determine,  that  some 
men  among  us  be  constituted  and  appointed 
a  standing  comitty  in  trust  for  this  Town, 
during  these  transactions,  to  manage  the  af- 
faires of  concern  't  to  &  about  our  lands  and 
birth-  right  priviledges,  that  may  be  urgent 
upon  us  eyther  with  Conneticutt  our  present 
government  to  whom  under  God  we  own  our 
selves  indebted  for  our  protection  &  defence, 
and  also  with  New  York  if  we  shall  become 
under  that  government,  this  town  being  very 
remote  which  comitty  shall  have  full  power  to 
act  all  things  that  may  be  to  our  better  inable- 
ment  for  his  Majesties  service,  &  to  joyne 
with  a  like  comitty  of  South  or  East  Hampton. 

"  Entd  here  the  day  &  year  above 

"Expressed  per  me  Benjamin  Yongs  Reed 
Mr.  Joshua  Hubard  &  Mr.  Hutchson  were 
chosen  Comittee  by  &  for  said  Town  the 
day  and  year  aforesaid." 


Autograph  of  Benjamin  Youngs  in  1674, 


EAST    END    SUBMITS.  193 

We  can  very  well  understand  the  occasion 
of  these  proceedings  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Ho- 
bart  and  his  people  when  we  call  to  mind  that 
the  Dutch  recovered  New  York  on  the  3oth 
of  July,  1673,  and  thereupon  the  Towns  on 
the  East  End  of  Long  Island  asked  and  ob- 
tained protection  from  Connecticut..  But  as 
soon  as  the  Dutch,  on  the  loth  of  November, 
1674,  surrendered  New  York  to  the  English, 
the  Duke  of  York,  through  his  Governor,  re- 
quired these  Towns  to  submit  themselves 
again  to  his  authority.  Andros  was  not  back- 
ward to  fulfil  his  commission  in  this  matter. 
For  this  purpose,  he  sent  hither  Sylvester 
Salisbury,  who  subsequently  became  high 
sheriff  of  Yorkshire.  When  he  reached 
Southold,  he  called  the  people  together,  and 
gave  them  the  following  notice  : 

"December  10,  1674.  Gentlemen: 
Know  yee,  that  I  am  empowered  by  ye  hon- 
ored Governer  of  New  York,  to  receive  the 
return  of  this  place  into  the  colony  of  New 
Yorke,  and  the  government  thereof,  pursuant 
to  his  Majesty's  royall  graints  to  his  Royall 
Highnesse  ye  Duke  of  Yorke.  Where  Upon  I 
doe  declare  to  all,  that  I  doe  receive  and  ac- 
cept of  ye  return  and  surrender  of  this  place 
from  under  ye  Collony  of  Connecticut,  by 
whose  protection  they  have  been  secured 
17 


194  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

irom  ye  Dutch  invasion,  unto  the  obedience 
of  his  Royall  Highnesse.  As  witness  my 
hand  at  Southold  the  day  and  year  above 
sayd.  SILVESTER  SALISBURY." 

The  contest  between  the  people  of  South- 
old  and  the  Duke's  government  was  an  une- 
qual one,  and  the  result  of  it  is  indicated  by 
a  paragraph  in  a  letter  of  the  Duke  to  his 
governor,  Major  Edmund  Andros,  dated  "  St. 
James's  6  Aprill  1675,''  as  follows: 

"  I  shall  lett  you  know  that  I  am  well  sat- 
isfyed  with  your  proceedings  hitherto  and  yt 
you  are  in  quiet  possession  of  yt  place,  but 
more  especially  at  your  conduct  in  reducing 
to  obedience  those  3  fractious  tovvnes  at  ye 
East  end  of  Long  Island,"  &c.  [Brodhead's 
Documents,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  231]. 

The  connection  with  New  York  became 
more  tolerable  after  the  attainment  of  a  Colo- 
nial Assembly,  which  had  been  long  resisted 
by  the  Duke,  but  which  was  at  length  gained 
in  1683,  when  Gov.  Dougan  succeeded  Gov. 
Andros.  But  the  desire  for  union  with  Con- 
necticut was  not  dead  ;  and  it  revived  again 
six  years  later,  when  the  English  Revolution 
of  1688,  the  flight  of  the  king,  and  the  conse- 
quent dissensions  in  New  York  between  Leis- 
ler  and  his  opponents  gave  hope  of  restoration 
to  the  New  England  Colony.  Therefore  the 


EUROPEAN    AFFAIRS.  195 

people  of  Southold  in  June,  1689,  made  their 
last  vain  effort  for  this  end. 

Great  changes  were  taking  place  abroad  on 
the  larger  field  as  well  as  in  the  narrow  limits 
of  Southold.  London  had  been  terribly  af- 
flicted by  the  great  plague  in  1665,  and  the 
great  fire  in  1666.  The  invading  Turks,  who' 
were  taking  possession  of  the  fairest  portions 
of  Europe,  had  received  a  check  in  Hungary 
in  1664,  but  in  1669  they  conquered  Candia. 
Among  the  nations  of  Western  Europe,  the 
English  had  gained  some  advantage  over  the 
Dutch  upon  the  sea. 

Colbert   had   raised   France  to  the  greatest 

o 

height  in  military  power  and  industrial  pros- 
perity. His  financial  enterprise  and  skill  both 
filled  the  public  treasury  and  improved  the 
condition  of  the  people.  Spain  was  humbled. 
But  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
October  18,  1685,  expelled  from  the  country 
the  best  half-million  of  people  that  France 
contained.  They  included  the  most  skillful 
artisans.  England  and  America  received  many 
of  them.  They  formed  twenty-two  Protestant 
French  churches  in  London  alone,  and  there 
were  eleven  regiments  of  them  speedily  enroll- 
ed in  the  English  army. 

England,  in   the   year  of  the   Rev.  Joshua 


196  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Hobart's  ordination  and  settlement,  lost  one 
of  her  worthiest  sons,  greatest  statesmen,  and 
most  eminent  writers,  by  the  death  of  John 
Milton.  But  John  Dryden  and  John  Locke 
had  now  reached  middle  life,  and  Addison  was 
two  years  old.  Bunyan  had  come  forth  from 
his  twelve  years'  imprisonment  in  Bedford 
jail ;  but  it  was  not  till  1678  that  his  Pilgrim's 
Progress  came  forth  from  the  press  and  began 
a  career  of  immortality  among  men. 

In  1674  Jeremy  Taylor  had  been  dead  seven 
years  ;  but  Isaac  Barrow  lived  three  years  af- 
ter this  date,  which  was  the  very  year  wherein 
Richard  Baxter  published  his  Method  of  The- 
ology, and  he  lived  seventeen  years  thereafter. 

In  New  England,  the  first  generation  were 
passing  away.  As  they  closed  their  eyes  up- 
on the  work  of  their  hands  in  the  new  world, 
they  saw  it  prosperous  and  peaceful.  There 
were  more  than  fifty  thousand  people  in  the 
Puritan  colonies ;  and  the  founders  of  these 
colonies,  who  passed  into  the  unseen  world 
with  John  Davenport  and  John  Youngs,  were 
gathered  to  their  fathers,  "  closing  a  career  of 
virtue  in  the  placid  calmness  of  hope,  and  la- 
menting nothing  so  much  as  that  their  career 
was  finished  too  soon  for  them  to  witness  the 


INDIAN    RAVAGES.  1 97 

fullness  of  New  England's  glory."      [Bancroft, 
Vol.  II,  p.  92]. 

But  the  first  and  second  years  of  Mr.  Ho- 
bart's  pastorate  were  years  of  New  England's 
adversity.  Its  prosperity  was  arrested  by  In- 
dian wars.  The  savages  burned  villages, 
spoiled  the  frontier  towns,  tortured  and  killed 
all  classes,  and  pursued  the  contest  with  the 
bloodiest  determination  for  two  years,  until 
they  were  thoroughly  overcome  and  King 
Philip  was  dead.  The  people  of  New  Eng- 
land lost  about  600  men,  who  were  in  the  war, 
and  as  many  houses,  that  became  fuel  for  the 
flames  kindled  by  the  savages.  One  in  twen- 
ty of  the  men  perished,  and  one-twentieth  of 
the  families  became  houseless,  while  one-tenth 
of  the  property  of  the  whole  people  would  no 
more  than  meet  the  expense  of  the  war. 

Danger  from  the  savages  was  always  a  hin- 
drance and  a  burden  in  the  early  history  ot 
Southold.  It  was  needful,  in  Mr.  Hobart's 
day,  as  well  as  in  previous  years,  to  be  ever 
vigilant.  That  the  people  maintained  a  care- 
ful defence  appears  in  such  records  as  this  in 
1674: 

"  Deacon  Barnabas  \Yines  and  Richard 
Benjamin,  Sen.,  are  freed  from  training, 
watching  and  warding." 


198  HISTORY    OF    SOUTH  OLD. 

Both  of  these  persons  may  have  been  freed 
on  account  of  their  office,  as  well  as  their  age  ; 
for  in  the  same  year  that  the  second  pastor 
was  settled,  the  people  in  Town  Meeting  ap- 
pointed a  grave-digger.  They  elected  Rich- 
ard Benjamin,  whose  home  was  immediately 
west  of  the  church  and  cemetery,  his  land  in- 
cluding that  now  occupied  by  Richard  Car- 
penter, the  present  Sexton  of  the  Church,  and 
Richard  S.  Sturgis,  the  present  Constable  of 
the  parish,  and  extending  towards  the  resi- 
dence of  Deacon  Moses  C.  Cleveland.  Mr, 
Benjamin  was  authorized  to  receive  eighteen 
pence  for  the  grave  of  each  adult  and  twelve 
pence  for  that  of  each  child.  See  Town  Rec- 
ords, Book  A,  p.  162. 

In  this  year  Mr.  John  Elton  was  chosen 
Constable,  and  Benjamin  Youngs,  Recorder. 


WELLS  AUTOGRAPH.  199 

In  the  circumstances  of  the  time  and  place, 
the  Recorder  was  the  most  responsible  civil 
officer  of  the  Town.  The  reader  will  be  pleas- 
ed to  see  the  fac  simile  of  the  signature  of 
William  Wells  and  of  Benjamin  Youngs.  For 
the  use  of  the  engraving  which  presents  the 
handwriting  of  William  Wells,  special  and 
gratetul  acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  au- 
thor and  copyright  owners  of  the  scholarly 
and  elegant  volume  entitled  ''William  Wells 
of  Southold  and  his  Descendants."  It  will  be 
perceived  that  the  dots  are  omitted  over  the 
"  ij  "  in  the  genitive  of  the  word  Februariusr 
which  Mr.  Wells  wrote  "  Februarij,"  and  not 
February, 

William  Wells,  Esq.,  had  been  Recorder 
until  1662,  and  from  that  time  Richard  Terry 
held  this  important  office  until  the  election  of 
Benjamin  Youngs,  who  filled  the  place  from 
1674  until  1687. 

In  the  course  of  1675  and  1676  it  became 
evident,  that  the  people  here  could  not  retain 
their  union  with  Connecticut  and  enjoy  the 
advantage  of  its  liberties,  the  fellowship  of  its 
religion,  and  the  protection  of  its  charter  and 
government.  For  a  long  period,  they  had  de- 
clined to  accept  a  patent  confirming  the  title 


2OO  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

to  their  lands  under  the  Duke's  authority,  and 
they  continued  to  withhold  their  submission 
until  Andros  threatened  to  treat  them  as  en- 
emies who  persistently  refused  to  own  the  au- 
thority of  their  lawful  sovereign.     Thereupon 
they  consented  to  accept  a  patent,  and  on  the 
3  ist    of   October,    1676,  the  Governor   gave 
them  one.     It  names  as  the  patentees  Isaac 
Arnold,  Justice  of   the  Peace  ;  Captain  John 
Youngs ;     Joshua     Horton,     Constable ;     and 
Barnabas  Horton,  Benjamin  Youngs,  Samuel 
Glover  and    Jacob    Corey,  Overseers    of  the 
Town.     These    persons    received    the  patent 
for  themselves  and  their  associates,  the  free- 
holders   and  inhabitants  of   the  Town.     The 
patentees,  in  accepting  this  patent,  took  care 
to  exclude  from  its  privileges  two  classes  of 
persons  :   first,  those  who  were  only  transient- 
ly here  and  had  no  ownership  in  the  soil — all 
who  had  rights  under  the  patent  must  be  own- 
ers of  land.     Another  class  that  they  took  care 
to  exclude  consisted  of   all  those  who    were 
freeholders  but  not  inhabitants.     They  knew 
the    evils  of   the  proprietorship  of   non-resi- 
dents, and  they  were  careful  to  guard  against 
them.     Hence  they  made  it  sure,  by  the  pat- 
ent   itself,  that    all    who    should  possess  the 


PATENT    ACCEPTED.  2OI 

rights  and  privileges  which  it  granted,  must 
be  not  only  freeholders,  owners  of  land,  but 
also  dwellers  in  the  Town. 

The  patentees,  by  their  deed  on  the  2yth 
of  December,  1676,  fulfilled  the  intention  of 
the  patent,  and  extended  their  rights  under  it 
to  all  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the 
Town. 

This  patent  did  not  avowedly  disturb  nor 
diminish  the  religious  rights  and  liberties  of 
the  people.  They  continued  to  transact  the 
business  of  the  Church  in  the  Town  Meeting. 
Soon  after  the  issue  of  the  patent,  they  in- 
creased the  Minister's  salary  to  the  sum  of 
,£100,  and  continued  to  assess  and  collect  it 
as  a  part  ot  the  regular  tax  upon  all  the  tax 
payers  of  the  place  on  the  same  principle 
that  the  tax  for  public  schools  is  now  assess- 
ed and  collected,  the  Minister  being  on  every 
Sabbath  and  many  other  times  the  chief  and 
most  important  Teacher  of  the  people  of  the 
Town. 

In  preceding  pages  it  has  been  said  that 
the  settlement  of  the  Town  had  become  per- 
manent and  so  far  advanced  by  the  summer 
of  1640  that  the  Indian  title  was  purchased  at 
that  time.  This  purchase  did  not  cover  the 


2O2  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

whole  territory  afterwards  included  in  the 
boundaries  of  the  Town,  and  hence  a  second 
purchase  was  made  of  the  Indians  in  1649. 
This  purchase  included  Cutchogue,  Mattituck 
and  Aquebogue,  west  of  the  first  purchase. 
Subsequently  another  purchase  was  effected 
and  the  deed  was  drawn  so  as  to  include  the 
whole  territory  of  the  Town.  It  was  written 
as  follows  : 

To  all  people  to  whom  this  present  writing 
shall  come,  greeting.  Know  ye,  that  whereas  the 
inhabitants  of  Southold  their  predecessors  or 
some  of  them,  have  in  the  right  and  behalf  of 
the  said  Inhabitants  and  Township,  purchased, 
procured  and  paid  for,  of  the  Sachems  and  Indi- 
ans our  Anncestors,  all  that  tract  of  land  situate, 
lying  and  being,  at  the  Eastward  end  of  Long 
Island,  and  bounded  with  the  River  called  in  the 
English  toung  the  Weading  Kreek,  in  the  Indian 
toung  Panquaconsuk,  on  the  West,  to  and  with 
plum  Island  on  the  East,  together  with  the  Island 
called  plum  Island,  with  the  Sound  called  the 
North  Sea  on  the  North,  and  with  a  River  or  arme 
of  the  sea  wch  runneth  up  between  Southampton 
Land  and  the  aforesaid  tract  of  land  unto  a  certain 
Kreek  which  fresh  water  runneth  into  on  ye  South, 
called  in  English  the  Red  Kreek,  in  Indian  Toy- 
onge,  together  with  the  said  Kreek  and  meadows 
belonging  thereto,  and  running  on  a  streight  line 
from  the  head  of  the  aforenamed  fresh  water  to 
the  head  of  ye  Small  brook  that  runneth  into  the 
Kreek  called  panquaconsuk,  as  also  all  necks  of 
lands,  meadows,  Islands  or  broken  pieces  of  mead- 
ows, rivers,  Kreeks,  with  timber  woods,  and  wood- 


INDIAN    DEED.  203 

lands,  fishing,  fouling,  hunting,  and  all  other  com- 
modities whatsoever,  unto  the  said  Tract  of  land, 
and  Island  belonging  or  in  any  wise  appertaining, 
as  Corchaug  and  Mattatuck  and  all  other  Tracts 
of  land  by  what  names  soever  named  or  by 
what  name  soever  called  ;  and  whereas  the 
now  Inhabitants  of  the  aforenamed  town  of  South- 
old,  have  given  unto  us  whose  names  are  under- 
written, being  the  true  successors  of  the  lawful  and 
true  Indian  owners  and  proprietors  of  all  the 
aforesaid  tract  of  land  and  Isleand,  fourty  yards  of 
Trucking  cloth,  or  the  wourth  of  the  same,  the 
receipt  whereof  and  every  part  of  the  same  we 
doe  hereby  acknowledg,  and  thereof  acquitt  and 
discharg  the  Inhabitants  their  heirs  successors  or 
assigns,  and  every  of  them  by  these  presents. 

Now  these  presents  witnesseth,  that  we  whose 
names  are  under  written,  for  the  consideration 
aforementioned,  hath  given,  granted,  remised  and 
confirmed,  and  doth  by  these  presents,  grant,  re- 
mise and  confirm  unto  Capt.  John  Yongs,  Barna- 
bas Horton  and  Thomas  Mapes,  for  and  in  behalf 
of  the  Inhabitants  and  Township  of  Southold,  and 
for  the  use  of  the  aforesaid  Inhabitants,  according 
to  their  and  every  of  their  severall  and  perticular 
dividends.  To  have  and  to  hold  to  them  and 
their  heirs  forever,  by  virtue  of  the  afore  recited 
bargain,  bargains,  gifts  and  grants  of  what  nature 
or  kind  soever,  made  with  our  predecessors,  we 
under  written  doe  confirme  all  the  aforenamed 
Tract  or  tracts  of  land,  contained  within  the 
aforementioned  bounds,  as  also  plum  Island,  with 
warranty  against  us,  our  heirs,  or  any  of  us  or 
them,  or  any  other  person  or  persons,  clnime,  from 
by  or  under  us,  them,  or  any  of  us  or  them,  as 
our,  theirs,  or  any  of  one  or  their  right,  title  or 
interest,  as  witness  our  hands  and  seals  this 


204 


HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 


seventh  of  December,  1665,  in  the  Seventeenth 
yeare  of  ye  reigne  of  our  Soveraigne  Lord 
Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England,  Scot- 
land, France  and  Ireland,  King,  defender  of  the 
faith,  &c. 


Ambuscow,  x  his  mark, 
Hammutuks,  x  his  mark, 
Fanckeyuon,  x  his  mark, 
Kaheummash,  x  his  mark, 
Sowwannous,  x  his  mark, 
Ounsoonquat,  his  maik, 
Tiscom.  x  his  mark, 
Pancamp,  x  his  mark, 
Matu-ackeom,  x  his  mark, 
Pimsham,  x  his  mark, 
Kinebounch,  x  his  mark, 
Aganchu,   x  his  mark, 
Antakquasen,  x  his  mark, 
Namlyam,  x  his  mark 
Webinaug,  x  his  mark, 
Quahso,  x  his  mark, 
Winhayten,  x  his  mark, 
Jamacasse,  x  his  mat  k, 
Cantnsquan,  x   his  mark, 
Anquapine,  x  his  mark. 
Chackeason,  x  his  mark, 
Mununcx, 


Noroumreg,  x  his  mark, 
Wasliham,  x  his  mark, 
Tontovvish,  x  liis  mark, 
Ahambantmvack.x  his  mark, 
Hatched' >us.  x  his  mark, 
Hassegonhock,  x   his  mark, 
Passecoquin,  x  his  mark, 
Oi:ay\voton,  x  his  mark, 
Patoynamhis,  x  his   mark, 
Seequannut,  x  his  mark, 
Metkesump,  x  his  mark, 
Opscett,  x  his  mark, 
Panmantanhis,  x  his  mark, 
Keepcombhis,  x  his  mark, 
Odsay,  x  his  mark, 
Maryuck,  x  his  mark, 
T\vones,  x  his  mark, 
Tanghus,  x  his  mark, 
Sanysond,  x  his  mark, 
Posuassuck,  x  his  mark, 
Wegotaguati,  x  his  mark, 
x  his  mark, 


Sealed  and  delh'ered  in  ye  presence  of  us, 

BENJAMIN  YONGS, 
BENOXI  FLINT. 


folio 


w 


/ing 


is    the    text    of    the    Town 


The 
Patent  : 

Edmund  Andross,  Esq.,  Seigneur  of  Sansmares, 
Lieut,  and  Governour  Gen'll  under  his  Royal  high- 
nesse  James,  Duke  of  Yorke  and  Albany,  and  of 
all  his  territory  in  America. 

Whereas  there  is  a  certain  Towne  in  the  East 
Riding  of  Yorke  Shire,  upon  Long  Island,  corn- 
only  called  and  known  bv  the  name  of  South 


INDIAN    DEED. 


205 


Hold,  scituate,  lying  and  being  on  the  North  side 
of  the  said  Island,  towards  the  Sound,  haveing  a 
certain  Tract  of  land  thereunto  belonging,  the 
Western  bounds  whereof  extend  to  a  certain 
river  or  Creeke  called  the  Wading  Creeke,  in  the 
Indian  tongue  Panquacunsuck,  and  bounded  to  the 
Eastward  by  Plumb  Island,  together  with  the  said 
Island  on  the  North  with  the  Sound  or  North  Sea, 
and  on  the  South  with  an  arme  of  ye  Sea,  or  river 
which  runneth  up  between  Southampton  Land  and 
the  aforesaid  Tract  of  .Land,  unto  a  certain  Creek 
which  fresh  water  runneth  into  called  in  English 
the  Red  Creek,  by  the  Indians,  Toyongs,  together 
with  the  Sd  Creek  and  meadows  belonging  there- 
unto, (not  contradicting  the  agreement  made  be- 
tween their  Towne  and  the  Towne  of  Southton, 
after  their  Tryall  at  ye  Assizes,)  So  running  on  a 
straight  line  from  the  head  of  the  aforementioned 
fresh  water,  to  the  head  of  the  small  brook  that 
runneth  into  the  Creek  called  Panquacunsuk,  in- 
cluding all  the  necks  of  Land  and  Islands  within 
the  afore  described  bounds  and  limitts,  now  for 
a  confirmacon  unto  the  present  ffreeholders  In- 
habitants of  the  said  Towne  and  precints. 

Know  yee  that  by  virtue  of  his  Ma'ties  Letters 
Pattents  and  the  Commission  and  authority  unto 
me  given  by  his  Royal  highness,  I  have  Ratifyed, 
confirmed  and  granted,  and  by  these  presents  do 
hereby  Ratify,  confirmeand  grant  unto  Isaack  Ar- 
nold, Justice  of  the  Peace,  Capt.  John  Young,  Josh- 
ua Morton,  Constable,  Barnabas  Horton,  Benjamin 
Young,  Samuel  Glover  and  Jacob  Core}-,  Overseers 
as  Patentees,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  themselves 
and  their  associates,  the  ffreeholders  and  Inhabi- 
tants of  the  Scl  Towne,  their  heires,  Successors  and 
Assigns,  all  that  aforemenconed  Tract  of  land, 
with  the  necks  and  Islands  within  the  Sd  bounds, 

18 


206  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOI.D. 

sett  forth  and  described  as  afores'd,  Together 
with  all  Rivers,  Lakes,  waters,  Quarryes,  Timber, 
woods,  woodland,  Plaines,  meadows,  broaken 
pieces  of  meadows,  Pastures,  Marshes,  ffishing, 
hawking,  hunting  and  ffowling,  and  all  other  pro- 
ffits,  commodities,  emoluments  and  hereditaments 
to  the  sd  towne,  tra6l  of  land  and  premises,  with- 
in the  Limmitts  and  Bounds  aforemenconed,  de- 
scribed, belonging,  or  in  any  wise  appertaining  ; 
To  have  and  to  hold,  all  and  singular  the  sd  lands, 
hereditaments  and  premises,  with  their  and  every 
of  their  Appurtenances,  and  of  every  part  and 
parcell  thereof  to  the  Sd  Patentees  and  their  As- 
sociates, their  heirs,  Successors  and  Assigns,  to 
the  proper  use  and  behoofes  of  the  said  Patentees, 
their  Associates,  their  heirs,  Successors  and  As- 
signes  forever.  The  tenure  of  the  Sd  Lands  and 
premises  to  bee  according  to  the  custome  of  the 
manner  of  East  Greenwich,  in  the  County  of 
Kent,  in  England,  in  free  and  Common  Soccage, 
and  by  fealty  onely,  Provided,  allwayes  notwith- 
standing, That  the  extent  of  the  Bounds  before 
recited,  do  no  way  prejudice  or  infringe  the  par- 
ticular propriety  of  any  person  or  persons  who 
have  Right  by  Patent, or  other  Lawfull  claime  to 
any  part  or  parcell  of  land  or  Tenements  within 
the  Limitts  afores'd,  onely  that  all  the  sd  Lands 
and  Plantacons,  within  the  sd  Limitts  or  Bounds, 
shall  have  relacon  to  Towne  in  Generall  for  the 
well  government  thereof  ;  and  if  it  shall  so  hap- 
pen that  any  part  or  parcel  of  the  Sd  Lands,  with- 
in the  bounds  and  Limmitts  aforedescribed,  be  not 
allready  Purchased  of  the  Indyans,  it  may  bee 
purchased  (as  occation)  according  to  Law.  I  do 
hereby  likewise  confirme  and  grant  unto  the  Sd 
Patentees  and  their  Associates,  the  heires,  Succes- 
sors and  Assignes,  all  the  priviledges  and  Immuni- 


INDIAN     DEED. 

tyes  belonging  to  a  Towne  within  this  Governm't 
and  that  the  place  of  their  present  habitacon  and 
abode  shall  continue  and  retaine  the  name  of 
South  Hold,  by  which  name  and  stile  it  shall  be 
distinguished  and  knowne  in  all  bargains  and  sales, 
Deeds,  Records  and  writings,  They  making  im- 
provement on  the  Sd  land,  and  conforming  them- 
selves according  to  law,  and  yielding  and  paying 
therefore,  yearly  and  every  year,  unto  his  Royall 
highnesse  use  as  a  Quit  Rent,  one  fatt  Lamb,  unto 
such  officer  or  officers  there  in  authority,  as  shall 
be  empowered  to  receiv^e  the  same.  Given  under 
my  hand,  and  Sealed  with  the  Scale  of  the  Prov- 
ince in  New  York,  the  3ist  day  of  October,  in  the 
28th  yeare  of  his  Ma'ties  Raigne,  Anno  of  Domini, 
1676. 

E.  ANDROSS. 
Examined  by  me, 
MATTHIAS  NICOLLS,  Secy. 

The  deed  of  confirmation  was  drawn  as  follows  : 
To  all  Christain  people  greeting.  Know  yee 
that  we  ye  underwritten,  haveing  this  yeare  receiv- 
ed a  patent  from  Sr  Edmond  Andross,  Knight, 
Governor  for  his  Royall  Highness  the  Duke  of 
York  and  Albany,  and  dated  at  New-York  in  ye 
31  day  of  October,  in  ye  yeare  1676,  in  the  behalf 
of  our  selves  and  of  all  the  freeholders  Inhabitants 
of  this  Towne,  who  are  therein  called  Associats, 
wherein  is  contained  a  confirmation  of  all  ye  Lands 
pertaining  to,  and  now  in  the  possession  of  the  re- 
spective freeholders  of  sd  towne  of  Southold,  with 
all  such  rights,  liberties  and  properties,  as  are 
more  at  large  in  sd  patent  contained.  All  which 
freeholders,  we  doe  fully  own,  admitt  and  declare 
to  be  our  onely  associats  in  sd  patent,  and  no 
others,  to  whom  we  do  hereby  give  full  power  to, 


2O8  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

To  have  and  to  hold,  possess  and  enjoy,  to  them- 
selves, their  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever,  all  such 
comon  rights  as  are  contained  in  sd  patent,  and  all 
such  perticular  shars  and  allottnnents,  which  are 
now  in  their  possessions,  as  fully,  amply  and  free- 
ly, as  if  they  and  every  of  them  had  been  therein 
named.  And  in  further  confirmation  of  all  their 
properties,  and  shares  in  the  premises,  to  such  our 
Associats,  their  heirs  forever,  we  have  caused  to 
be  recorded  in  the  page  next  following,  all  such 
perticular  rights,  tracts,  and  parcells  of  Land,  as 
doe  of  right  appertaine  and  belong  unto  them, 
their  heirs  and  assigns  in  sd  patent  and  Township. 
In  testimony  whereof,  we  the  patentees,  have 
hereunto  affixed  our  hands  and  seals,  in  Southold, 
ye  27  day  of  December,  in  the  28  yeare  of  the 
reigne  of  our  Soveraign  Lord,  Charles  the  2d,  of 
England,  Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  King,  de- 
fender of  the  faith,  &c.,  and  in  ye  yeare  of  our 
Lord,  1676. 

ISAAC  ARNOLD, 
JOHN  YONGS, 
JOSHUA  HORTON, 
BENJ.  YONGS, 
SAMUEL  GLOVER, 
JACOB  COREY. 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  presence  of  these  wit- 
nesses, 

JOHN  GARDINER, 
LION  GARDINER. 

The  heirs  of  the  "  Freeholders  and  Inhabi- 
tants," who  held  under  the  foregoing  Patent 
and  Deed  of  Confirmation  subsequently  ob- 
tained the  enactment  of  the  following  laws  : 


LAND    LAWS.  2Qg 

An  Act  relative  to  the  comon  and  undivided 
Lands  and  meadows  in  Southold,  in  the  County 
of  Suffolk.  Passed  the  8th  of  April,  1796. 

1.  Whereas  the  proprietors  of   the   comon  and 
undivided    Lands    and    meadows   in  Southold,  by 
their  petition  to  the  Legislature,  have  requested 
Legislative   aid,   to    enable    them    more   advanta- 
geously to  improve  their  said  lands  and  meado\vs; 
Therefore, 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  state  of  New- 
York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly  :  That 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said  proprietors 
to  meet  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  April  next,  at 
the  house  of  Moses  Case  in  Southold  aforesaid, 
and  annually  thereafter  on  the  second  Tuesday  of 
April,  at  such  a  place  as  a  majority  of  them  shall 
direct,  and  at  every  such  meeting  the  said  prepri- 
etors  or  a  majority  of  them  who  shall  be  present, 
may  make  such  prudential  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  better  improving  and  managing  their  said 
common  and  undivided  lands  and  meadows,  as 
they  shall  judge  proper  ;  which  rules  and  regula- 
tions shall  be  entered  in  a  book,  to  be  provided 
for  that  purpose  by  a  clerk  to  be  chosen  at  every 
such  meeting. 

2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  pro- 
prietors  at   every   such   meeting,  may   elect  three 
Trustees,  to  have  the  superintendance  and  man- 
agement of  their  said  lands  and  meadows,  accord- 
ing  to   such    rules   and  regulations  as  aforesaid  to 
be  made  at  such  meetings.     And  be  it  further  en- 
acted, That    the    said    trustees,  or    a    majority    of 
them,  or   the   survivers    of  them,  may  sue  for  and 
recover  for  the  use  of  the  said  proprietors,  all  such 
penalties   as   shall    be   made   for  the  breach  of  the 
said  rules  and  regulations,  so  to  be  made  as  afore- 
said.    Provided   always    that    no   penalty   for  any 


2IO  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLt). 

one  offence  shall  exceed  the  sum  of  three  pounds. 
And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  Trustees 
may  call  a  special  meeting  of  the  said  proprietors, 
whenever  they  shall  judge  the  same  to  be  neces- 
sary, by  advertising  the  same  at  three  different 
meeting  houses  in  Southold  aforesaid,  six  days 
previous  to  the  meeting,  and  the  proceedings  of 
such  meeting  shall  be  as  good  and  valid  as  if  they 
were  done  at  the  annual  stated  meetings,  as  afore- 
said. 

3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  votes  of 
the  said  proprietors  at  such  meeting  as  aforesaid, 
shall  be  counted,  according  to  the  number  of  rights 
owned  by  each  proprietor  who  shall  vote  at  such 
meeting. 

An  Act  to  amend  the  act,  entitled  "  An  Act 
relative  to  the  common  and  undivided  lands  and 
meadows  in  Southold,  in  the  County  of  Suffolk," 
passed  April  8,  1796.  Passed  November  26,  1847. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New-York,  repre- 
sented in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  The  trustees  mentioned    in   the  act  entitled 
"  an  act   relative   to   the   common   and    undivided 
lands  and  meadows  in  Southold,  in  the  Count}'  of 
Suffolk,"  are  authorized  and  empowered  to  prose- 
cute and   maintain  in  their   own  names,  with  the 
addition   of  their  name  of  office,  actions  of  eject- 
ment for  the  recovery  of  the  common  and  undivid- 
ed   land  in  Southold  ;  and   actions   of  trespass   for 
injuries  thereto  or  entries  thereon,  and  for  proper- 
ty taken  therefrom,  for  the  use  of  the  proprietors 
of  the  said  land. 

2.  No  suit  commenced  by  said  trustees  as  afore- 
said, shall  be  abated  or  discontinued  by  the  death 
of  said    trustees,  or  either  of  them  ;   but  the  court 
in   which   such   action   is  pending,  shall  substitute 


REV.  MR.   HOBART  S  ACTIVITY.  2  I  I 

the   names   of  the  successors  upon  the  application 
of  such  successors  of  the  adverse  party. 

3.  The  said  Trustees  whose  names  shall  be  used 
for  the  prosecution  of  any  such  suit,  at  the  time 
any  judgment  shall  be  rendered  therein,  shall  be 
personally  liable  for  the  payment  of  all  costs  which 
may  be  recovered  against  them  in  such  suit  ;  and 
execution  for  the  collection  thereof  may  be  issued. 

Mr.  Hobart  was  prominent  in  the  civil  and 
industrial  interests  of  the  people  from  the  be- 
ginning of  his  ministry.  He  was  not  only 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  with  full  pow- 
er on  the  political  relations  of  the  Town  to 
Connecticut  and  to  New  York  ;  but  he  was 
also  executor  of  wills  and  referee  in  cases  of 
disagreement  as  to  transactions  and  accounts 

o 

in  ordinary  business.  He  was  active  in  the 
introduction  and  establishment  of  new 
branches  of  manufacture  and  the  mechanic 
arts  in  the  place.  [Town  Records,  Book  D, 
page  116.]  He  engaged  more  or  less  in  the 
practice  of  medicine.  He  seems  to  have  been 
the  first  person  to  whom  the  people  entrusted 
the  care  of  the  poor,  giving  him  due  compen- 
sation therefor.  See  Town  Record,  Book  D, 
page  11.  During  his  pastorate  the  sphere  of 
religion  and  of  its  ministry  was  eminently 
biblical  and  liberal.  It  included  within  its 
range  every  important  interest  of  the  people 


212  HISTORY   OF  SOUTHOLD. 

for  time  and  for  eternity — for  earth  and  for 
heaven.  Mr.  Hobart  was  a  citizen  as  well  as 
a  Christian,  and  every  thing  that  concerned 
the  public  or  the  private  welfare  of  the  people 
concerned  him. 

Thus  the  tide  of  human  life  here  flowed  on- 
ward. The  rights  of  all  were  most  faithfully 
regarded  by  the  people  generally,  and  every 
man  was  expected  to  keep  in  his  own  place 
and  to  do  his  duty  in  it.  Advantage  or  dis- 
tinction was  not  to  be  grasped  without  ability 
and  merit,  nor  at  the  expense  of  the  public 
justice  or  welfare,  or  in  disregard  of  the  rights 
of  any  person. 

This  respect  for  the  proper  standing  and 
just  claims  of  all  persons  most  conspicuously 
appears  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Town  Meet- 
ing whereof  the  records  are  as  follows  : 

"Southold,  Feb.  n,  1683-4. 
"  Voted,  that  Capt.  Youngs  and  Mr.  Isaac 
Arnold  should  have  liberty  to  set  up  a  pue  at 
the  west  end  of  the  pulpit  for  themselves  and 
families."  See  Town  Records,  Book  D,  page 
1 06. 

Capt.  John  Youngs,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
first  Pastor,  was  at  this  time  the  most  promi- 
nent and  influential  citizen  in  civil  affairs  on 


SEATING    THE    MEETING    HOUSE.  213 

Long  Island  ;  and  Mr.  Arnold  in  the  same  re- 
lations within  the  limits  of  Southold  was  sec- 
ond to  no  other  than  Capt.  Youngs.  They 
were,  moreover,  nearest  neighbors  to  each 
other.  It  was  on  these  considerations  doubt- 
less that  the  liberty  was  granted  them  to 
make  for  themselves  a  place  of  distinction  and 
preference  in  the  Meeting  House.  A  few 
weeks  after  the  privilege  was  conferred  upon 
them,  the  Town  took  its  usual  course  to  as- 
sign every  other  man  his  proper  place  and 
the  record  thereof  was  made  as  follows  : 

"  Southold,  April  3,  1684. 
"Chosen  Thomas  Mapes  Senr  Mr.  Thomas 
Moore  Senr  John  Tuthill  &  Caleb  Horton  to 
seate  ye  Inhabitance  of  this  Town  in  ye  meet- 
ing house."  See  Town  Records  Book  D,  p. 
107. 

Another   record   of  special   interest   in  the 
history  of  the  Church  is  this,  namely  : 

"  Desimber  ye  i5th  1684. 

"Ther  was  Then  by  vote  Samuell  Youngs 
and  Thomas  Clarke  both  carpender  to  vewe 
and  apprize  ye  old  meeting  hous,  in  order  to 
make  a  county  prison  of  said  house,  and  upon 
theire  return  they  gave  in  they  valued  the 
Body  of  the  house  at  Thirty-five  pounds." 

"  Ye  four  Seder  windows  left  out  of  ye  new 


214  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

meeting  house  was  sold  to  Jonathan  Horton 
for  three  pounds  in  town  payment."  Town 
Records,  Book  D,  page  108. 

These  dates  fix  the  time,  or  at  least  indi- 
cate the  year,  when  the  first  Meeting  House 
was  converted  into  a  County  Jail ;  when  the 
second  Meeting  House  was  erected ;  and 
when  the  two-story  part  of  the  Horton  house 
was  added  to  the  original  edifice  built  soon 
after  the  settlement  of  the  Town  by  Barnabas 
Horton.  This  addition  was  made  by  Jonathan 
Horton,  youngest  son  and  chief  heir  of  Bar- 
nabas Horton.  This  house  is  on  the  north 
side  of  the  street  and  faces  south.  Through 
the  courtesy  of  the  Messrs.  Harper  &  Broth- 
ers an  artistic  picture  of  this  house  is  repro- 
duced on  the  opposite  page,  from  Harpers' 
New  Monthly  Magazine,  Vol.  57,  No.  341,  p. 
715.  The  oldest  part  is  the  west  end.  It  is 
the  east  end,  the  highest  part,  that  was  built 
in  part  for  the  use  of  the  County  Court,  whose 
sessions  for  many  years  were  held  in  this 
most  ancient  and  picturesque  building.  The 
Court  of  Sessions  for  Suffolk  County  was 
holding  its  term  at  Southampton  in  1683-4 
when  it  ordered  a  prison  to  be  constructed  in 
Southold.  The  people  here  with  wisdom  and 


CHANGES  OF  POPULATION.  2  I  J 

thrift  turned  their  old  fortification-like  Meet- 
ing House  into  the  required  prison,  and  erect- 
ed a  new  edifice  more  appropriate  for  their 
public  worship  and  other  uses  in  less  warlike 
times.  See  Town  Records,  Book  D,  p.  219. 
They  probably  built  this  on  the  north  side  of 
the  street,  nearly  opposite  the  first  one,  which 
had  now  become  a  jail.  The  Third  meeting 
House,  which  immediately  preceded  the  pres- 
ent one,  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  street 
and  opposite  the  site  of  the  first. 

For  a  few  years  after  the  building  of  the 
new  meeting  house,  in  1684,  no  events  of  im- 
portance known  to  us  marked  the  peaceful 
history  of  the  pastor  and  his  flock  in  their  Isl- 
and home.  There  were,  of  course,  the  cease- 
less changes  of  this  transient  life — one  gener- 
ation was  passing  away  and  another  generation 
coming.  Some  were  seeking  new  homes  in 
other  places  ;  and  others  were  fixing  their 
habitations  here.  Some  of  these  changes  are 
indicated  by  a  comparison  of  the  tax-lists  ot 
1675  and  1683. 

The  list  of  1683  contains  ninety-eight  names, 
as  follows  : 

Mr.  John  Budd  /35°  °°  s 

Jeremiah  Vail  Sr.  74  oo 

'9 


2l8  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

John  Paine  Jr  40  oo 

Jasper  Griffing  1 1 1   oo 

Henry  Case  35  oo 

Lot  Johnson  19  oo 

Simon  Grover  73  oo 

Nathaniel  Moore  46  oo 

Thomas  Moore  Sr  49  oo 

Joseph  Youngs  98  oo 

Samuel  Youngs  84  oo 

Peter  Paine  56  oo 

Christopher  Youngs  80  oo 

Stephen  Bailey  103  oo 

John  Bailey  18  oo 
John  Youngs,  mariner          58  oo 

Benjamin  Youngs  123  oo 

John  Salmon  41   oo 

Mr.  John  Booth  131   oo 

John  Carwine  131   06 

Thomas  Prickman  42   oo 

Jonathan  Horton  440   13 

Richard  Benjamin  133   oo 

Benjamin  Moore  80    10 

Jeremiah  Vail  Jr  103   oo 

John  Hallock  80  oo 

Abraham  Corey  76  oo 

Ann  Elton  77  oo 

Joshua  Horton  173  oo 

Isaac  Oventon  100   10 

Barnabas  Wines  122  oo 

Jacob  Corey  92   oo 

Theophilus  Case  109  oo 


TAX    LIST    OF     1683. 

The  widow  Terry  97  oo 

John  Reeve  76  oo 

Daniel  Terry  141   oo 

Peter  Dickerson  121   oo 

Thomas  Dickerson  83  oo 

Joseph  Reeve  65  oo 

Nathaniel  Terry  73  oo 

William  Wells  85   oo 

Josiah  Wells  8 1   oo 

Samuel  Wines  82  oo 

Simeon  Benjamin  117  oo 

Gershom  Terry  84  oo 

John  Goldsmith  121   oo 

Thomas  Mapes  Jr  128  oo 

Caleb  Horton  350  oo 

Benjamin  Horton  267  oo 

William  Coleman  78  oo 

William  Reeve  100  oo 

Thomas  Tuston  66  oo 

Theophilus  Curwin  84  oo 

Thomas  Mapes  Sr  244  oo 

James  Reeve  228  oo 

Thomas  Terrill  105  oo 

Peter  Aldrich  40  oo 

Thomas  Osman  228  oo 

William  Hallock  236  oo 

Thomas  Hallock  Si   oo 

John  Swazey  202  oo 

Joseph  Swazey  99  oo 

John  Franklin  33   oo 

Thomas  Rider  166  oo 

Jacob  Conklin  101   oo 


22O  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

John  Hopson  83  oo 

John  Conklin  321   oo 

William  Hopkins  46  oo 

John  Racket  57  oo 

Jonathan  Moore  202  oo 

John  Youngs  Jr  225  oo 

Christopher  Youngs  44  oo 

Timothy  Martin  57  oo 

John  Wiggins  68  oo 

Thomas  Moore  Jr  137  oo 
Richard  Brown  Sr  1 

Richard  Brown  Jr   >  386  oo 
Jonathan  Brown      ) 

John  Tuthill  Sr  239  oo 

John  Tuthill  Jr  99  oo 

Samuel  King  150  oo 

Abraham  Whittier  180  oo 

Thomas  Terry  139  oo 

Gideon  Youngs  173   oo 

John  Paine  Sr  94  oo 

Edward  Petty  62  oo 

John  Loring  76  oo 

Samuel  Glover  104  oo 

Caleb  Curtis  108  oo 

Cornelius  Paine  81   oo 

Richard  Howell  98  oo 

Thomas  Booth  45  oo 

John  Liman  18  oo 

Ebine.  Davis  30  oo 

Richard  Edgecomb  18  oo 

John  Booth  Jr  18  oo 

Jonathan  Reeve  30  oo 


ADDITIONAL   TAX    PAYERS. 


221 


On  the  list  of  1675  are  some  twenty  names 
which  do  not  appear  on  that  of  1683,  namely  : 


Richard  Clark 
John  Corey 
Richard  Cozens 
John  Greete 
Samuel  Grover 
Barnabas  Horton 
John  Halloch 
Thomas  Hutchinson 
Walter  Jones 
James  Lee 


Joseph  Mapes 
William  Poole 
William  Robinson 
Isaac  Reeve 
Thomas  Reeve 
John  Swezey  Jr 
Peter  Simons 
Mrs.  Mary  Wells 
Capt.  John  Youngs 
Sarah  Youngs 

o 


Thomas  Moore  Jr 
On   the   other   hand,  the    list  of   1683  con~ 
tains  the  following  names  which  are  not  found 
in  "  the  estimation"   officially   attested    eight 
years  earlier,  namely: 

Lot  Johnson 
John  Loring 
John  Li  man 
Timothy  Martin 
Thomas  Moore  Jr 
John  Osman 
Thomas  Prickman 
Cornelius  Paine 
Joseph  Reeve 
Jonathan  Reeve 
John  Rackett 
Joseph  Swezey 
The  widow  Terry 


Peter  Aldridge 
John  Bailey 
Richard  Brown  Jr 
Jonathan  Brown 
Thomas  Booth 
John  Booth  Jr 
Henry  Case 
Theophilus  Case 
Theophilus  Corwin 
Thomas  Dickerson 
Ebenezer  Davis 
Ann  Elton 
Richard  Eclo-ecomb 


222  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

Jasper  Griffing  Gershom  Terry 

John  Goldsmith  John  Tuthill  Jr 

Thomas  Hallock  Jeremiah  Vail  Jr 

John  Hopson  William  Wells 

William  Hopkins  Josiah  Wells 

Thus  it  seems  that  in  the  cour.se  of  eight 
years  the  names  of  twenty-one  tax-payers  had 
disappeared  from  the  list  and  in  the  same 
time  thirty-six  had  been  added.  These  facts 
make  it  evident,  that  in  the  first  part  of  the 
second  pastor's  ministry,  his  people  were  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  two  families  or  tax  pay- 
ers a  year. 

These   lists  of  two  hundred  years  ago  indi- 

J  O 

cate  also  that  the  richer  men  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  to  a  greater  extent  than  the 
poorer  ones,  have  sent  down  their  family 
names  and  perpetuated  them  in  the  old  Town 
until  the  present  day  ;  for  instance,  those  of 
Benjamin,  Brown,  Budd,  Conklin,  Corwin, 
Dickerson,  Hallock,  Horton,  Mapes,  Overtoil, 
Reeve,  Swezey,  Terry,  Tuthill,  Wells,  and 
Youngs,  nearly  all  remain  here ;  and  these 
are  all  that  are  assessed  lor  more  than  two 
hundred  pounds  each  in  the  earliest  list  ; 
while  the  names  ot  Cozens,  Coleman,  Lee 
and  Tusten,  together  with  Johnson,  Prickman, 


JOHN    HERBERT.  223 

Hopson,  Hopkins,  Martin,  Loring,  Liman, 
Edgecomb,  have,  I  believe,  utterly  vanished 
away ;  and  the  estates  of  these  latter  were 
estimated  at  comparatively  small  amounts. 

In  1697,  the  people,  in  their  Town  Meeting, 
appointed  four  men  to  agree  with  John  Her- 
bert upon  a  price  for  his  house-home-lot,  be- 
ing two  acres  in  Calves'  neck,  and  two  lots  of 
meadow  in  Cutchogue,  and  two  lots  of  undi- 
vided commonage.  They  agreed  for  seventy- 
five  pounds  in  silver.  And  on  the  loth  of 
November,  1697,  it  was  ordered,  that  this 
house-home-lot  land  in  Calves'  neck  be  and 
remain  to  be  for  such  minister  or  ministers  as 
may  be  chosen  and  accepted  by  the  major 
part  of  the  inhabitants  for  the  future. 

This  John  Herbert  was  the  son  of  John 
Herbert,  a  shoemaker  from  Northampton, 
England,  who  probably  came  to  America  in 
1635,  when  he  was  twenty-three  years  ol  age. 
He  was  living  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in 
1637,  and  was  there  admitted  a  freeman  the 
next  year.  His  .wife's  name  was  Mary,  and 
their  daughter  Mary  was  baptized  in  Salem  on 
the  29th  of  March,  1640,  and  their  son  John 
born  on  the  i5th  of  October,  1643.  The  fam- 
ily removed  to  Southold  as  early  as  1652. 


224  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

The  next  year,  the  father  was  at  New  Haven 
with  Thomas  Moore ;  and  he  was  there  in 
1655  also,  with  John  Budd  and  others.  He 
had  business  in  that  place,  in  this  latter  year, 
about  the  will  of  James  Haines,  to  which  he 
had  been  a  witness  in  1652.  He  is  said  to 
have  died  in  1655.  Letters  of  administration 
were  granted  to  his  widow,  Mary  Herbert. 
His  estate  was  appraised  on  the  5th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1658,  by  William  Wells  and  Thomas 
Moore,  and  the  inventory  amounted  to  ,£249 
193.  His  widow  lived  at  least  three  years 
after  the  death  of  her  husband.  [Moore's 
"  Indexes."]  The  Rev.  John  Davenport  wrote 
on  the  4th  of  August,  1658,  to  the  right  wor- 
shipful John  Winthrop,  and  said,  among  other 
thino-s  :  "Mr  Harbert  of  Southold  is  so  ill  at 

O 

Manhadoes  that  there  is  little  if  any  hope  of 
his  life."  See  Rev.  Dr.  Bacon's  Historical 
Discourses,  page  373.  If  this  was  our  John 
Herbert  of  the  first  generation,  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  other  of  the  name 
known  to  have  been  here,  he  must  have  died 
in  1658. 

The  son  John  owned  land  at  Orient,  "  Oys- 
ter Ponds,"  in  1665,  and  gave  a  quit-claim  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Town  for  several  par- 


CHURCH     TRUSTEES.  225 

eels  in  1693.  In  1699,  he  delivered  deeds  for 
lands  to  Jonathan  Paine  and  Joseph  Swezey, 
and  in  1700  he  gave  a  deed  to  John  Tuthill 
for  one  hundred  acres  in  Orient.  He  was 
then  living  in  Reading,  Massachusetts. 
Twelve  years  later,  he  sold  fifty  acres  on  the 
Sound  to  John  Paine.  It  was  in  1699  that  he 
made  the  deed  for  the  land  whereon  the  pres- 
ent church  edifice,  as  well  as  the  parsonage, 
now  stands.  This  property  and  all  other 
property  which  the  Church  was  using  passed, 
of  course,  into  the  hands  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Church  when  the  State  of 
New  York,  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lutionaiy  war,  en  the  6th  of  April,  1/84,  in 
the  seventh  session  of  the  Legislature,  held  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  enacted  a  law,  to  ena- 
ble all  the  religious  denominations  in  this 

o 

State  to  appoint  Trustees,  to  be  a  Body  Cor- 
porate, for  the  purpose  of  taking  care  of  the 
temporalities  of  the  respective  congregations, 
and  for  other  purposes  therein  mentioned. 
The  preamble  of  this  law  recites  the  thirty- 
eighth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State, 
and  declares  the  duty  of  Government  to  en- 
courage virtue  and  religion.  The  first  article 

<~?  o 

of  the  act  makes  it  lawful  for  the  male  persons 


226  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

of  full  age  in  the  congregations  to  elect  Trust- 
ees. The  second  section  prescribes  the  mode 
of  election.  The  third  section  requires  the 
officers  of  the  election  to  file  a  certificate  duly 
attested  to  be  recorded  by  the  Clerk  of  the 
County  in  a  book  to  be  kept  by  him  for  the 
purpose.  The  fourth  section  enacts  "  that 
the  said  persons  so  to  be  elected,  returned, 
and  registered  shall  be  and  hereby  are  declar- 
ed to  be  the  trustees  for  the  said  church, 
congregation  or  society  for  which  they  shall 
be  so  chosen,  and  shall  be  and  hereby  are  au- 
thorized and  empowered  to  take  into  their 
charge,  care,  custody  and  possession  all  the 
temporalities  belonging  to  the  said  church, 
congregation  or  society,  for  which  they  shall 
be  elected  trustees,  whether  the  same  consist 
of  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  goods  or 
chattels,  and  whether  the  same  shall  have 
been  given,  granted  or  devised  directly  to  the 
said  church,  congregation  or  society,  or  to  any 
persons  in  trust  to  and  for' their  use;  and  al- 
though such  gift,  grant  or  devise  may  not 
have  strictly  been  agreeable  to  the  rigid  rules 
of  law,  or  might  on  strict  construction  be  de- 
feated by  the  operation  of  the  statutes  of  mort- 
main." This  fourth  section  also  enacts  that 


HON.    EZRA    L  HOMMEDIEU. 

the  said  trustees  shall  be  a  body  corporate 
and  "  shall  lawfully  have,  hold,  use,  exercise 
and  enjoy  all  and  singular  the  churches,  meet- 
ing houses,  parsonages,  burying  places,  and 
lands  thereunto  belonging,  with  the  heredita- 
ments and  appurtenances  heretofore  by  the 
said  church,  congregation  or  society  held,  oc- 
cupied or  enjoyed  by  whatsoever  name  or 
names,  person  or  persons,  the  same  were  pur- 
chased and  had,  or  to  them  given  or  granted, 
or  by  them  or  any  of  them  used  and  enjoyed 
for  the  uses  aforesaid,  to  them  and  their  suc- 
cessors, to  the  sole  and  only  proper  use  and 
benefit  of  them  the  said  trustees  and  their 
successors  foreve.r,  in  as  full,  firm  and  ample 
a  manner  in  the  law  as  if  the  said  trustees 
had  been  legally  incorporated  and  made  capa- 
ble in  law  to  take,  receive,  purchase,  have, 
hold,  use  and  enjoy  the  same  at  and  before 
the  purchasing,  taking,  receiving  and  holding 
of  the  said  churches,  meeting  houses,  parson- 
ages, burying  places,  and  lands  thereunto  be- 
longing, and  lawfully  had,  held,  and  enjoyed 
the  same  ;  any  law,  usage,  or  custom  to  the 
contrary  hereof,  in  an)-  wise  notwithstanding." 
This  law,  it  is  highly  probable,  was  written 
by  the  Hon.  Ezra  L'Hommedieu,  a  member 


228  HISTORY    OF    ROUTHOLD. 

of  the  First  Church  of  Southold.  He  was  the 
most  prominent  member  of  the  church  and 
the  most  eminent  citizen  of  the  town,  and  per- 
haps of  the  county,  at  the  time.  He  had  rep- 
resented the  Island  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  as  a  member  from  the  State  of 
New  York  during  the  course  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  four  years  from  1779  to  1783  ; 
and  after  the  establishment  of  peace  and  in- 
dependence, he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  enter 
the  Senate  of  the  State  and  take  the  chief 
place  in  the  Legislature,  in  order  most  wisely 
to  shape  the  great  body  of  legislation  which 
the  condition  of  the  country  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  demanded.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate  sixteen  consecu- 
tive years,  from  1784  to  1799  except  one  year 
in  1792-3.  He  had  b^eti  a  member  of  all  the 
Provincial  Congresses  of  Xcw  Y^rk,  including 

o  <r> 

the  Fourth,  which  framed  and  adapted  at 
Kingston  the  First  Constitution  of  the  State, 
in  the  Spring  of  1777.  He  was  in  1801  a 
member  of  the  celebrated  Convention  which 
was  elected  to  interpret  some  of  the  parts  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  to  deter- 
mine how  many  members  there  should  be  in 
each  house  of  the  Legislature.  He  was  re- 

O 


CHURCH    LAWS    OF    NEW    YORK.  2 29 

peatedly  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Appoint- 
ment which  had  the  power  until  1821  to  se- 
lect nearly  every  civil,  military  and  judicial 
officer  of  the  Commonwealth.  He  was  the 
foremost  of  all  men  who  had  lived  all  their 
life  from  birth  to  death  in  Southold.  From 
1787  till  his  death,  Sebtember  28,  1811, 
he  was  a  Regent  of  the  State  University.  He 
did  much  to  give  prominence  to  Gen.  William 
Floyd,  whose  sister  was  his  wife.  As  the 
Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the 
Senate,  he  wrote  many  of  the  laws  which  were 
enacted  by  the  Legislature,  after  the  establish- 
ment of  peace,  when  the  State  of  New  York 
began  the  most  magnificent  career  of  en- 
terprise and  prosperity  under  the  operation  of 
these  laws.  Among  the  most  beneficent  of 
these  wise  and  salutary  enactments  was  this 
statute  for  the  election  of  Trustees  of  Church- 
es. According  to  the  power  and  directions 
of  this  creneral  law,  the  First  Church  of  South- 

f> 

old  was  the  earliest  in  Suffolk  County — the 
earliest  on  Long  Island  also — to  elect  its  trus- 
tees and  file  its  certificate  of  incorporation.* 

*  Flatbush  elected  Trustees  of  its  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  July  31,  1784.  Furman's,  "Antiquities  of  Long 
Island,"  pp,  125,  126. 

20 


230  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

See  Book  A  of  Certificates  of  Religious  Cor- 
porations, page  i,  in  the  County  Clerk's  of- 
fice for  the  first  certificate  recorded  as  follows, 
namely : 

"  We,  William  Horton  and  Freegift  Wells, 
the  Deacons  of  the  First  Church,  Congrega- 
tion or  Society  in  Southold,  do  by  these  pres- 
ents certify,  that  on  Tuesday  the  twenty-ninth 
day  of  June  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day  an  election  was  held  at  the 
meeting  house  of  the  said  first  congregation 
or  society  in  Southold  for  the  purpose  of 
choosing  Trustees  for  taking  the  charge  of 
the  estate  and  property  belonging  to  the  said 
congregation  agreeably  to  an  Act  of  the  Leg- 
islature passed  the  sixth  of  April  1784  enti- 
tled '  an  Act  to  enable  all  religious  Denomin- 
ations in  this  State  to  appoint  Trustees,'  &c. 
Which  said  meeting  holding  the  said  election 
being  duly  notified  at  the  said  time  and  place, 
the  electors  present  qualified  to  vote  by  a 
majority  of  voices  did  elect  Deacon  Freegift 
Wells,  Jared  Landon,  Esquire,  and  Major 
Joshua  Goldsmith,  Trustees  of  the  Temporal- 
ities of  the  first  congregation  or  society  in 

O         O  * 

Southold 

•'  That  immediately  after  the  said  election  the 
said  Trustees  were  divided  by  Lott  into  three 
classes,  and  the  seat  of  Jared  Landon,  Esquire, 
beino-  the  first  class,  becomes  vacant  at  the 

o 

expiration  of  the  first  year  :   the  seat  of  Major 


CFII'RCIl    TRUSTEES.  23  I 

Joshua  Goldsmith  being  the  second  class  be- 
comes vacant  at  the  expiration  of  the  second 
year  ;  and  the  seat  of  Deacon  Wells  being-  the 
third  class  becomes  vacant  at  the  expiration 
of  the  third  year. 

"  That  there  being  no  elders  or  church  war- 
dens belonging  to  the  said  congregation,  we 
the  above  named  William  Morton  and  Free- 
gift  Wells,  Deacons  as  atoresaid,  presided  at 
the  said  election  and  are  the  returning  officers 
thereof  as  directed  by  the  said  act. 

WILLIAM   HORTON. 

FRKEGIFT  WELLS." 
'' Southolcl,  June  29,  1784. 

Suffolk  County,  ss. 

"  Personally  appeared  before  me  Thomas 
Youngs,  Esquire,  one  of  the  fudges  of  the 
Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  and  for 
the  said  County,  William  Horton  and  Free- 
gift  Wells,  Deacons  of  the  First  Church,  Con- 
gregation or  Society  in  Southold,  and  acknowl- 
edged the  within  certificate  to  be  their  act 
and  deed,  and  I  having  examined  the  same 
do  allow  it  to  be  recorded. 

"Attest:  THOMAS  YOUNGS,  Judge. 

"  Recorded  the  4th  of  April  1785. 

F.    L'HnMMEDIEU,   Clk." 

Our  worthy  church-member  who  probably 
wrote  the  law  for  the  appointment  of  Trustees, 
most  likely  wrote  also  the  certificate  ot  the 


232  HISTORY    OF    SOt'THOT.D. 

ele<5lion  of  the  Trustees  of  Southold,  as  well 
as  recorded  it.  He  was  the  Clerk  of  Suffolk 
County  for  twenty-seven  consecutive  years 
from  1784  to  181 1,  except  the  year  1810.  The 
Judge  who  attested  the  certificate  of  the  elec- 
tion of  the  trustees  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Southold  congregation.  Major  Joshua  Gold- 
smith succeeded  Freegift  Wells  in  the  office 
of  Deacon  on  the  death  of  the  latter. 

It  is  the  distinctive  quality  of  a  corporation 
that  it  never  dies,  and  so  the  Board  of  Trust- 
ees have  continued  uninterruptedly  for  nearly 
an  hundred  years  past  to  hold  and  use  accord- 
ing to  law  and  justice  all  the  property  of  every 
kind  that  was  in  the  possession  and  use  of 
the  Church,  or  had  been  purchased  or  given 
for  its  support  or  benefit,  at  the  time  when 
the  law  of  the  State  required  them  to  take 
the  said  property  into  their  hands  ;  and  so  in 
due  season  the  church  edifice  and  parsonage 
were  built  on  the  land  purchased  from  Her- 
bert for  religious  purposes. 

The  increase  of  the  people,  or  some  other 
motive,  caused  them  in  1699  to  build  a  gallery 
in  the  west  end  of  the  Meeting  House  ;  and 
the  next  year,  they  built  one  in  the  east  end. 
See  Town  Records,  Book  D,  pp.  9,  113. 


CHUKOT     RTLI.S.  2^ 

The  bill  for  the  latter  is  found  in  the  Town 
Records  thus  in  D.  5  : 

"  The  Town  of  Southold  Dr. 
To  Samuel  Clarke  for 
building  ye  gallere  ^15    IDS 
Received    of    Samuel     Clarke:   for   boards 
and  nails  left  of  ye  gallere  ,£00-04 

Paid  Jacob  Conklin  for  banesters  ,£1-05-00 
Samuel  Conklin  for  bringing 

ye  banesters     0-06-09 
Joshua  Wells  for  carting- 
timber  for  ye  irallere,  nine  shillings." 

J  t>  O 

Other  expenses  at  this  period  are  made 
known  by  these  bills,  namely  : 

"  Paid  Seargeant  John  Convin  ^5  for  sweep- 
ing the  Meeting  House  the  year  1790." 
[Town  Records,  Book  D,  p.  9.] 

"  i  701.  Hannah  Corwin,  sweeping  Meeting 
House  and  tending  with  ye  Baptissm  bason 
/2-oi-oS." 

"  1702.  The  same." 

The  year  1701  was  marked  by  a  transac- 
tion whose  causes  are  not  distinctly  indicated. 
This  was  the  Pastor's  sale  of  his  home  to  the 
people — the  same  home  which  they  had  con- 
veyed to  him  on  condition  o!  his  settlement 
as  their  pastor  twenty-seven  years  previously. 
Why  h"  wished  to  seli,  or  they  wished  to  pur- 
chase, at  this  time,  can  only  b:i  inferred  from 


234  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOI.D. 

the  known  facts  in  the  case.  He  did  not  be- 
gin his  ministry  until  he  was  forty-five  years 
old,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  period  of  life 
in  which  many  congregations  at  the  present 
day  are  inclined  to  deem  a  minister  too  aged 
to  continue  in  the  pastoral  work.  He  had 
been  the  pastor  nearly  twenty-seven  years  in 
1701,  and  had  two  years  previously  reached 
his  three  score  and  ten  years.  It  was  not  to 
be  expected  that  he  would  be  able  to  cultivate 
his  farm  and  also  perform  his  ministerial  du- 
ties without  embarrassment  for  a  much  longer 
period.  It  evidently  seemed  desirable  to  the 
people  that  he  should  be  relieved  from  the 
care  and  labor  and  business  of  his  farm,  and 
continue  his  pastoral  activity  in  his  extreme 
old  age  free  from  this  burden.  They  seem  to 
have  always  most  thoroughly  considered  his 
wants,  esteemed  his  ministerial  character,  and 
appreciated  his  pastoral  services.  Though 
he  had  passed  beyond  the  Psalmist's  line  of 
three  score  years  and  ten,  they  sustained  him 
in  his  old  age  with  all  the  more  tenderness, 
and  with  the  reverence  clue  to  tin-  hoary  head 
that  is  in  the  way  of  righteousness.  They  ac- 
cordingly bought  his  dwelling  and  the  farm 
on  which  it  stood,  and  determined  that  it 


CORN  BURY.  235 

should  be  perpetually  the  parsonage  for  him- 
self and  his  successors,  and  so  it  proved  to  be 
for  nearly  an  hundred  years.  They  raised 
the  money  to  pay  for  it  in  the  same  way  that 
they  assessed  and  collected  taxes  for  other 
public  uses. 

The  next  year,  they  gave  it  the  repairs 
which  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century's  dur- 
ation and  use  had  caused  it  to  need. 

For  some  years  from  this  date,  it  was  nec- 
essary for  the  people  of  Southold  to  act  with 
caution.  A  new  Governor  reached  New  York 
in  May,  1702.  This  was  Edward  Hyde,  Lord 
Cornbury,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Claren- 
don. He  was  a  reckless  adventurer,  without 
principle  or  virtue,  who  had  fled  from  his  na- 
tive country  to  avoid  his  creditors.  He  was 
eager  to  gain  wealth  from  his  office,  and  cared 
nothing  'for  justice.  He  received  man)-  in- 
structions from  his  cousin.  Queen  Anne  :  but 
he  was  careful  to  follow  those  only  that  suited 
his  own  inclinations.  He  was  directed  among 
other  things  to  tolerate  all  forms  <>|  religion, 
but  to  do  his  utmost  to  make  the  Church  ot 
England  the  Established  Church  of  his  Prov- 

o 

inces.  In  the  Province  of  New  York  previous 
to  1699  the  Church  of  England  had  but  one 


236  HISTORV  OF  sorTHoi.n. 

minister  except  the  chaplains  of  the  military 
forces,  and  in  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  not 
one.  Trinity  Church  in  New  York  city  was 
built  in  1696-7,  under  the  Governorship  of 
Benjamin  Fletcher,  who  arrived  in  New  York 
in  1692,  and  who  had  two  chief  objects  in 
view,  namely  :  the  promotion  of  his  own  per- 
sonal interests  and  especially  the  increase  of 
his  wealth,  and  secondly,  the  introduction  of 
the  English  Church  into  the  Province.  In 
1693  he  induced  the  Assembly  to  pass  an  act 
providing  for  the  building  of  a  church  in  the 
city  of  New  Y'ork,  another  in  Richmond,  two 
in  Westchester,  and  two  in  Suffolk,  and  the 
settlement  of  a  Protestant  minister  in  each  of 
those  churches  with  a  salary  that  might 
range  irom  forty  to  an  hundred  pounds — the 
whole  expense,  to  be  paid  by  a  tax  laid  on  all 
the  inhabitants.  Provision  was  also  made  for 
the  division  of  all  the  province  into  parishes. 
The  Governor  restricted  the  word  Protestant 
and  wrested  it  to  mean  Episcopal,  and  under 
this  act  the  building  of  Trinity  Church  was 
begun  in  1696  and  was  opened  tor  public  wor- 
ship 1'Ybruary  6,  1697.  The  minister  was  the 
Rev.  William  Yesey,  who  had  been  an  Inde- 
pendent minister  in  Queens  county,  and  who 


THE    EPTSrOPAI.    CHURCH.  237 

never  had  a  very  desirable  reputation  ;  but 
he  succeeded  in  1703  in  obtaining  for  this 
church  a  gift  of  the  King's  farm,  which  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  millions  of  wealth  now 
belonging  to  Trinity  church.  He  complained 
in  1699  ol  the  discomforts  of  his  new  situa- 
tion. He  did  not  find  the  favor  with  the  Gov- 
ernors Bellamont  and  Hunter  that  he  desired, 
and  the  former  described  him  "  as  capable  of 
any  wickedness,  base,  unchristian  ;  his  wick- 
edness is  plain  ;  he  wants  honesty."  He  was 
not  the  only  Episcopal  minister  in  the  Prov- 
ince when  Lord  Cornbury  became  Governor 
in  1702.  There  were  also  two  others,  Messrs 
Stuart  and  Barton.  It  was  with  these  three 
Episcopal  ministers  only  in  the  Province  that 
the  Governor  determined  and  attempted  to 
establish  the  Episcopal  Church  as  the  State 
Church.  Soon  after  he  came  from  England 
a  terrible  disease  (probably  yellow  fever)  was 
brought  to  New  York  from  St.  Thomas,  West 
Indies.  It  spread  rapidly,  and  proved  fatal 
in  nearly  every  case.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
city  fled  in  every  direction,  and  especially  to 
Long  Island.  The  Governor  and  his  Council 
sought  to  escape  the  pestilence  by  fleeing  to 
Jamaica.  This  was  a  prosperous  village  ol 


2^8  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOT.TX 

Presbyterians.  They  had  recently  built  a 
beautiful  Church  and  had  bought  a  house  and 
glebe  for  their  minister.  There  were  more 
than  one  hundred  families  of  them,  "  exem- 
plary for  all  Christian  knowledge  and  good- 
ness." Their  Church  was  worth  six. hundred 
pounds,  and  the  manse  and  glebe  twice  as 
valuable.  Indeed,  the  manse  was  the  best 
house  in  the  village.  The  minister  was  the 
Rev.  John  Hubbard,  a  native  of  Ipswich, 
Massachusetts,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1695.  When  lie  heard  of  the  Governor's 
coming,  he  removed  to  a  smaller  dwelling, 
and. offered  the  use  of  the  parsonage  to  Lord 
Cornbury,  who  accepted  the  hospitality  and 
repaid  it  in  a  very  peculiar  way.  namely  :  by 
turning  the  pastor  and  his  flock  out  of  the 
Church  and  handing  it  over  to  an  Episcopal 
minister  named  Barton.  Nor  was  this  all. 
For  when  the  Governor  returned  to  New 
York,  he  put  the  Episcopal  minister  into  pos- 
session of  the  parsonage  also,  which  was  oc- 
cupied, thenceforth,  as  his  residence  ;  and  the 
Presbyterians  had  to  carry  on  a  law-suit  for 
twenty  years  before  they  recovered  the  pos- 
session and  use  of  their  Church.  Cornbury 
also  ordered  the  Sheriff  unlawfully  to  take  the 


PRESBYTERIANS    IMPRISONED.  239 

parsonage-lancl  away  from  Mr.  Hubbard  ;  to 
divide  it  into  lots  ;  and  to  lease  it  for  the  ben- 
efit of  the  Episcopalians.  This  \vas  done, 
and  its  owners  deemed  it  too  dangerous  even 
to  ask  tor  the  redress  of  their  wrongs.  This 
was  the  same  Lord  Cornbury  who  imprisoned 
for  two  months  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Hampton 
and  Makemie,  two  Presbyterian  ministers,  for 
preaching  in  New  York  city  and  in  Xewtown. 
After  living  for  years  in  the  most  shameless 
profligacy,  he  was  at  length  deprived  of  his 
governorship  by  his  kinswoman,  Queen  Anne. 
His  creditors  immediately  seized  him  and 
kept  him  in  prison  in  the  City  Hail  on  Wall 
Street,  until  the  death  of  his  father  raised  him 
from  his  cell  to  the  peerage  of  Great  Britain, 
and  gave  him  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

During  this  Governor's  administration,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hobart  and  his  puritan  people  in 
Southold  had  to  walk  softly  :  and  we  find 
nothing  here  to  chronicle  in  those  years. 

On  the-  arrival  of  Governor  Hunter,  a 
Scotchman,  affairs  assumed  a  different  aspect 
in  New  York  city,  and  throughout  the  prov- 
ince. The  people  of  Southold  seem  to  have 
improved  it  to  build  a  new  meeting  house  ; 
but  the  new  structure,  however  satisfactory  in 


240  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

most  respects,  did  not  please  the  people  in 
the  pitch  of  its  roof.  Hence  they  voted,  in 
1711,  to  take  it  down  and  build  "a  flatter 
roof  upon  the  Meeting  House  ;  "  and  in  the 
following  year,  order  was  taken  to  seat  the 
people  in  this  house  according  to  rank,  digni- 
ty, official  duties,  and  other  considerations. 
[Town  Records,  Book  D,  page  117.) 

For  more  than  three  score  and  ten  years 
now  the  people  of  the  town  had  been  spread- 
ing abroad,  and  especially  eastward  and  west- 
ward, from  the  meeting  house.  Some  of 
them  were  more  than  ten  miles  away  from  it 

j 

in  one  direction,  and  others  were  equally  dis- 
tant in  the  opposite  quarter.  The  minister 
was  midway  between  eighty  and  ninety  years 
of  age.  The  people  were  increasing  in  num- 
ber and  in  wealth,  as  well  as  in  the  occupation 
of  the  soil  in  the  parts  of  the  town  remote 
from  the  centre.  Both  in  the  east  and  the 
west,  there  began  to  be  indications  of  a  de- 
sire for  public  worship  at  points  nearer  than 
•the  site  of  the  original  settlement.  The  sup- 
ply of  ministers  was  also  increasing.  In  the 
creation  of  this  supply,  Yale  was  now  effect- 
ively supplementing  the  good  work  of  Har- 
vard. In  1702,  the  only  graduate  of  the  Con- 


NEW    CHURCHES    IN   SOUTHOLD.  24! 

ne6licut  College  became  a  minister.  The 
case  was  the  same  in  1703.  Ten  of  the 
twelve  graduates  of  the  next  three  years  be- 
came ministers,  including  Jonathan  Dickinson, 
the  first  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey, while  the  class  of  1709  yielded  five  cler- 
gymen, including  Benjamin  Woolsey,  who 
eleven  years  later  became  the  third  pastor  of 
Southold ;  and  all  the  graduates  of  the  years 
1713,  1715,  1716,  and  1717  became  ministers. 
The  class  of  1715  included  Nathaniel  Mather, 
who  was  afterwards  settled  at  Aquebogue, 
within  the  limits  of  this  town,  and  the  class  of 
1717,  Joseph  Lamb,  who  became  the  pastor 
of  Mattituck,  which  is  also  in  the  Town  of 
Southold. 

In  these  circumstances,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  James  Reeve,  about  the  year  1/15,  gave 
half  an  acre  at  Mattituck  for  the  site  of  a 
meeting  house,  and  one  acre  and  a  half  ad- 
joining for  a  burying  ground  ;  and  here  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Lamb  was  ordained  the  minister 
soon  after  his  graduation  from  Yale  College 
in  1717. 

On  the  first  clay  of  January  1718 — not  in 
1700,  as  Griffin  says — David  Youngs  gave  a 
deed  for  the  site  of  a  meeting  house  at  Orient, 

21 


242  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

"  Oyster  Ponds,"  on  which  an  edifice  was 
erected  in  that  and  the  following  years. 
[Town  Records,  Book  C,  p.  67.  Gardner's 
Historical  Sketch  of  the  Church,  page  21.] 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  changes  that 
the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart  closed  his  long  life 
and  ministry  on  the  last  day  of  the  winter, 
February  28,  1717. 

Ten  years  later,  the  Town  voted  that  a 
tomb-stone  be  purchased  to  mark  his  grave 
and  honor  his  name.  In  the  pecuniary  ac- 
counts of  the  Town,  with  the  date  of  October 
31,  1732,  appears  the  bill  against  the  Town 
for  "  the  Building  Mr.  Hobart's  tomb  with 
stone  lime  &  tendence  i6s  i  id."  [Town  Rec- 
ords, Book  "  Righteous  &  Holy."] 

The  lime  commonly  used  here,  in  that  day, 
was  obtained  by  burning  the  shells  of  oysters, 
scallops  and  other  sea-fish  ;  and  a  character- 
istic specimen  of  the  mortar  made  with  it  may 
now  be  seen  beneath  the  tomb-stone  of  Col. 
John  Youngs,  the  eldest  and  most  eminent 
son  of  the  first  pastor  and  the  friend  and  con- 
temporary of  Mr.  Hobart. 

These  tomb-stones  are  heavy  horizontal 
slabs  of  sandstone.  The  inscription  on  Col. 
Youngs's  is  still  legible.  That  of  the  second 


SECOND    PASTORS    TOMB    STONE.  243 

pastor's  was  on  a  tablet  which  was  set  into  the 
upper  surface  of  the  stone.  The  tradition  is, 
that  this  tablet  was  destroyed  by  the  British 
during  the  war  of  Independence.  There  are 
two  branches  of  the  tradition — one,  that  the 
inscription  was  cut  upon  a  tablet  of  lead, 
which  the  British  troops  took  for  military 
uses ;  the  other,  that  the  material  was  mar- 
ble, which  was  ruthlessly  broken  and  destroy- 
ed by  them.  The  former  seems  the  more 
probable  ;  for  there  are,  in  the  oldest  part  of 
the  grave  yard,  several  other  tomb-stones 
from  which  the  inscription-tablets  are  gone. 

After  full  twenty  years  of  diligent  search 
for  a  copy  of  the  inscription  on  Mr.  Hobart's 
tomb-stone,  I  was  providentially  able  to  ob- 
tain one  which  is  well  attested.  It  is  partly 
in  prose,  and  partly  poetic.  The  latter  part 
was  written  by  MATHER  BYLES,  A.  M.,  and  it 
may  be  proper  to  say  a  word  here  in  respect 
to  the  author. 

He  was  born  in  Boston,  March  26,  1706,  of 
good  parentage,  his  mother  being  a  descend- 
ant of  John  Cotton  and  Richard  Mather.  He 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1725, 
two  years  before  Southold  ordered  the  tomb- 
stone for  Mr.  Hobart  and  seven  years  betore 


244  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

the  Town  paid  for  building  the  tomb.  He 
became  the  first  pastor  of  the  Hollis  Street 
Church,  in  Boston,  when  he  was  ordained 
Dec.  20,  1733.  The  College  of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  made  him  D.D.  in  1765.  Early  in 
his  ministry,  he  became  widely  known  as  a 
poet,  a  wit  and  a  preacher.  Alexander  Pope, 
Lord  Lansdown  and  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  Watts 
were  among  his  correspondents  in  England. 
The  inscription  was  this: 

"THE   REV.   JOSHUA   HOBART, 
BORN    AT    HINOHAM    JULY     1629, 

EXPIRED     IN     SOUTHOLD      FEB.     28th     1  7  1 6. 

He  was  a  faithful  minister,  a  skillful  physician,  a  gen- 
eral scholar,  a  courageous  patriot,  and  to  crown  all  an 
eminent  Christian. 

Beneath  the  sacred  honors  of  this  tomb, 

In  pensive  silence  and  majestic  gloom, 

The  man  of  God  conceals  his  reverend  head 

Amidst  the  awful  mansions  of  the  dead. 

No  more  the  statesman  shall  assert  the  laws 

And  in  the  Senate  plead  his  country's  cause  : 

In  the  sad  Church  no  more  the  listening  throng 

Gaze  on  his  eyes  and  dwell  upon  his  tongue  : 

Xo  more  his  healing  hand  shall  health  restore, 

Elude  the  grave  and  baffle  death  no  more. 

In  Eden's  flowery  vales  his  spirit  roves 

Where  streams  of  life  roll  through  the  immortal  groves. 

Fixed  in  deep  slumbers  here  the  dust  is  given 

Till  the  last  trumpet  shakes  the  frame  of  heaven. 

Then  new  to  life  the  waking  saint  shall  rise, 


SECOND    PASTOR  S    WIFE.  245 

And  gay  in  glory,  glitter  up  the  skies. 

With  smiling  joys  and  heavenly  raptures  crowned, 

Bid  endless  ages  wheel  their  never  ceasing  round." 

His  wife's  grave  is  beside  his  own,  and  cov- 
ered with  a  monument  in  every  respe6l  sim- 
ilar, except  that  the  inscription  is  cut  into  the 
stone  itself.  She  died  nineteen  years  earlier 
than  his  own  death,  the  date  of  her  decease 
being-  April  19,  1698,  and  her  age  fifty-six 
years. 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  trace  their  de- 
scendants. Irene  married  Daniel  Way  of 
Southold,  but  this  family  name  here  has  long 
since  disappeared. 


PART  III. 

PERIOD  OF  THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE 
REV.  BENJAMIN  WOOLSEY. 

i  720-1  736. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  third  Pastor  was  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Woolsey.  Here  again  may  be  seen  the  inti- 
mate relation  between  this  old  Church  and 
Town  on  the  one  hand  and  Yarmouth  and  its 
neighborhood  in  England  on  the  other ;  for 
the  grandfather  of  our  third  Pastor  was 
George  Woolsey,  born  in  Yarmouth,  October 
27,  1610.  The  place  of  his  birth  is  the  most 
eastern  borough  of  England.  The  peninsula 
on  which  Great  Yarmouth  is  built  is  remarka- 
ble for  its  peculiar  geological  formation  ;  for 
it  is  the  bed  of  a  former  estuary.  The  place 
is  also  note-worthy  for  its  antiquities,  its 
quay,  and  its  fisheries.  Its  Church  of  Saint 
Nicholas  [Santa  Clans]  was  founded  eight 
hundred  years  ago.  Its  quay  extends  for  a 
mile  north  and  south  on  the  east  or  left  bank 
of  the  Yare,  and  parallel  to  the  shore  of  the 


25O  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

sea,  so  that  the  streets  of  Great  Yarmouth 
which  run  east  and  west  stretch  across  the 
peninsula  from  the  broad  waters  of  the  Yare 
on  the  west  to  the  far  broader  waters  of  the 
North  Sea  on  the  east. 

George  Woolsey  was  a  son  of  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Woolsey  and  a  grandson  of  Thomas 
Woolsey  of  Yarmouth.  It  appears  from  the 
investigations  of  Charles  B.  Moore,  Esq.,  that 
he  had  resided  with  his  parents  in  the  city  of 
Rotterdam,  in  Holland,  and  that  his  father 
was  for  a  time  a  minister  in  that  city,  where 
he  had  been  preceded  by  another  clergyman, 
previously  of  Yarmouth,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Ames.  This  celebrated  minister  was  born  in 
Norfolk  county,  England,  in  1576.  He  was 
educated  in  Christ's  College  at  the  University 
of  Cambridge.  His  religious  principles  and 
life  made  him  the  object  of  persecution  and 
compelled  him  to  leave  the  University.  He 
left  his  native  country  also,  and  removed  to 
the  Hague,  the  capital  of  Holland.  He  be- 
came the  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Franeker  in  Friesland,  and  perform- 
ed the  duties  of  his  office  satisfactorily  for 
twelve  years.  1  le  then  removed  to  Rotter- 
dam, and  became  a  pastor  in  that  great  com- 


REV.    DR.    AMES.  251 

mercial  city,  where  he  had  very  many  English 
hearers,  and  lived  until  his  death  in  1633. 
The  Rev.  Hugh  Peters,  afterwards  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker, 
the  founder  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  were 
some  time  his  assistant  ministers.  He  was 
an  able  and  spirited  controversial  writer 
against  Cardinal  Bellarmine  and  others.  His 
Medulla  Theologies  was  famous  in  its  day. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Synod  of 
Dordrecht,  which  held  its  memorable  sessions 
in  the  year  1618-9,  aQd  defined  the  faith  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  on  the  five 
points  of  election,  redemption,  depravity,  ir- 
resistible grace,  and  perseverence  in  the 
Christian  life.  In  this  Synod  there  were  rep- 
resentatives of  the  English  church  and  of  other 
Reformed  communions,  and  it  settled  the  doc- 
trine and  order  of  the  Church  in  the  Nether- 
lands as  well  as  in  the  numerous  and  popu- 
lous colonies  thereof. 

After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ames,  his 
widow  with  his  daughter  and  his  two  sons  re- 
turned to  Yarmouth,  whence  they  sailed  in 
May,  1637,  on  board  the  Mary  Anne,  for  Sa- 
lem in  New  England.  Mr.  Moore  holds  that 

0 

this  vessel  probably  brought  over  at  that  time 


252  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

the  family  of  the  Rev.  John  Youngs,  our  first 
Pastor,  and  that  it  was  with  reference  to  the 
voyage  of  the  Mary  Anne  that  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Emigration  examined  the  Rev. 
John  Youngs,  his  wife  Joan,  and  their  six 
children  and  forbade  his  passage. 

It  is  very  likely  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Youngs 
himself  crossed  over  the  North  Sea  to  Hol- 
land and  from  that  country  came  to  America. 

It  is  believed  that  George  Woolsey  came 
over  in  a  Dutch  vessel  with  Dutch  emigrants 
in  1623,  during  his  thirteenth  year,  and  went 
to  Plymouth  in  New  England.  It  is  to  be 
remembered,  that  the  pilot  or  navigator  of 
the  Mayflower  was  a  Hollander,  or  Dutchman, 
and  that  the  Mayflower  company  desired  and 
intended,  when  they  left  the  harbor  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Ply  in  England,  to  make  their 
home  in  America  near  their  Dutch  friends  on 
Manhattan  Island.  Most  of  them  had  been 
intimate  with  the  Dutch  in  Holland,  and  were 
grateful  for  the  protection  and  freedom  which 
had  been  granted  to  them  in  that  country. 

George  Woolsey  became  a  resident  of  the 
Dutch  metropolis  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hud- 
son, and  a  trader  in  partnership  with  Isaac 
AHerton,  who  had  come  to  Plymouth  in  the 


GEORGE    WOOLS EY.  253 

Mayflower  three  years  earlier  than  himself. 
He  was  a  witness  before  the  Governor  and 
Council  on  the  230!  of  July,  1647,  an^  gave 
his  testimony  on  a  charge  affecting  the  char- 
acter and  official  conduct  of  the  chief  financial 
officer  of  the  colony.  On  the  loth  of  August, 
1647,  ne  bought  of  Thomas  Robertson  a 
house  and  plantation  in  Flushing,  L.  I.  On 
the  Qth  of  December,  in  the  same  year,  he 
was  married  at  the  Dutch  Church  in  New 
York  to  Rebekah  Cornell,  a  sister  of  Sarah 
Cornell,  whose  first  husband  was  Thomas 
Willett,  formerly  of  Bristol,  England,  and 
whose  second  husband  was  Charles  Bridges, 
of  New  York  city.  George  and  Rebekah 
(Cornell)  Woolsey  had  a  daughter  Sarah, 
who  was  baptized  at  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  New  York,  August  7,  1650.  Their 
son  George,  born  October  10,  1652,  received 
baptism  three  clays  later,  one  of  the  sponsors 
being  Elsje,  i.  e.,  Alice  Newton,  wife  of  Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant's  celebrated  military  officer, 
Captain  Bryan  Newton,  who  became  one  of 
the  patentees  of  the  Town  of  Jamaica,  Long 
Island,  where  George  Woolsey,  Jr.,  became  a 
prominent  citizen,  and  where  in  1680  he  made 
an  arrangement  with  Captain  and  Mrs,  New- 

32 


254  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

ton  to  care  for  them  in  their  old  age  and  to 
own  their  land  after  their  death.  See  Charles 
B.  Moore's  Bryan  Newton  in  New  York,  G. 
and  B.  Record,  July,  1876. 

In  1648,  George  Woolsey  and  three  others 
were  appointed  fire-wardens  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  with  large  powers  of  inspection 
and  control.  See  Booth's  New  York,  p.  133. 
He  became  the  owner  of  land  at  Jamaica  by 
deed  from  the  Town,  February  15,  1664.  He 
was  one  of  the  Patentees,  and,  as  one  of  its 
first  settlers,  this  was  probably  the  place  of 
his  residence  for  more  than  thirty  years.  He 
was  chosen  Town  Clerk  in  1673,  and  his  hand 
writing  is  plainly  legible  in  the  Town  Records. 
He  made  his  will  on  the  2nd  of  November, 
1691,  and  died  August  17,  1698,  being  nearly 
eighty-eight  years  of  age.  The  proof  of  his 
will  was  made  on  the  22d  of  February,  1699, 
and  the  record  of  it  is  in  the  Queens  County 
Records,  Vol.  A,  p.  132.  He  bequeathed  to 
his  eldest  son,  George,  his  land  at  Beaver  Pond, 
to  his  son  Thomas  fifteen  acres  on  the  west 
of  the  home-lot  of  Anton  Waters,  to  his  son 
John  thirty  acres  by  the  Little  Plains,  an  out- 
fit to  his  daughter  Mary  on  her  marriage  or 
when  she  attains  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 


NEW    JERSEY    WOOLSEYS.  255 

and  the  rest  of  his  estate  to  his  wife  Rebekah. 
At  her  decease,  the  lands  and  tenements  in 
her  use  to  be  equally  divided  to  his  three  sons, 
and  the  goods  and  chattels  to  his  three  daugh- 
ters Sarah  (Hallett),  Rebekah  (Wiggins),  and 
Mary  Woolsey.  When  he  died,  his  grandson 
Benjamin  Woolsey,  our  third  Pastor,  was  in 
his  eleventh  year. 

His  son  George  Woolsey,  Jr.,  became  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Jamaica.  He  was  made 
Captain  in  1696.  His  wife's  name  was  Han- 
nah. They  had  two  sons — George  and  Ben- 
jamin— named  after  their  paternal  ancestors. 

George  Woolsey,  the  elder  of  these  sons, 
was  born  in  New  York,  October  10,  1682, 
and  removed  in  his  early  manhood,  between 
1 700  and  1710,  from  Jamaica  to  Pennington, 
New  Jersey,  where  he  bought  two  hundred 
and  eighteen  acres  of  good  land,  which  he 
made  his  homestead.  lie  died  before  March 
11,  1762,  when  his  will  was  proved.  See  the 
Rev.  Dr.  George  Hale's  History  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Pennington.  His  de- 
scendants have  been  eminent  generally  for 
their  religious  character  and  moral  worth. 
His  homestead  has  never  ceased  to  be  the 
home  of  his  male  descendants,  and  is  now 


256  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

(1876)  the  homestead  of  his  great-grand-son, 
George  Woolsey,  a  Deacon  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Pennington,  who  was  for 
three  years  a  senator  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  and  whose  son,  Theodore  Freling- 
huysen  Woolsey,  with  his  wife  and  six  chil- 
dren, lives  on  the  homestead  with  his  aged 
father. 

Benjamin,  the  second  son  of  Captain  George 
Woolsey,  Jr.,  and  his  wife  Hannah,  was  born 
at  Jamaica,  November  19,  1687.  They  sold 
to  this  son  in  1722,  while  he  was  our  third 
Pastor,  the  land  at  Beaver  Pond,  Jamaica,  on 
which  they  were  then  living,  for  three  hundred 
pounds  sterling. 

After  the  removal  of  our  pastor  to  Dosoris 
in  1736,  his  aged  father  lived  with  him,  and 
died  there,  January  19,  1740-1,  where  his 
tomb  is  to  be  found  to  this  clay. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey  was  graduated 
at  Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1709,  midway 
between  the  origin  of  the  College  and  its  re- 
moval from  Saybrook  to  New  Haven.  His 
class  numbered  nine  graduates,  and  in  respecl; 
to  social  standing,  which  was  the  principle  of 
arrangement  in  the  Catalogue  at  that  time,  he 
held  the  central  place  in  the  class.  Yale  had 


REV.    MR.    WOOLSEY.  257 

graduated  seven  classes  previous  to  the  grad- 
uation of  Mr.  Woolsey's ;  and  according  to 
the  latest  General  Catalogue  of  the  College, 
these  seven  classes  numbered  altogether 
twenty-two  graduates  ;  of  whom  eighteen  be- 
came ministers.  The  first  sixteen  classes  of 
Yale  numbered  sixty-one  graduates,  and  all  of 
them  became  ministers  except  fourteen.  The 
graduates  of  this  College  in  those  years  be- 
came ministers  in  nearly  as  large  a  proportion 
as  the  graduates  of  the  best  Theological  Sem- 
inaries do  now. 

This  shows  the  character  of  Mr.  Woolsey's 
fellow  students  and  associates  in  College. 
He  had  attained  his  twenty-second  year  when 
he  was  graduated,  and  five  years  later  he  was 
married  to  Abigail  Taylor,  a  daughter  of  John 
Taylor  of  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island,  and  of 
Mary  (Whitehead)  Taylor.  John  Taylor  died 
in  1735,  and  left  to  Mrs.  YYoolsey  a  valuable 
estate  of  several  hundred  acres  near  Glen 
Cove. 

Soon  after  his  graduation  at  Yale  College, 
Mr.  Woolsey  began  the  work  of  the  ministry 
and  preached  in  several  places.  One  instance 
of  his  preaching  became  iamous.  This  occur- 
red while  he  was  visiting  his  elder  brother. 


25$  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

George,  in  Hopewell,  now  Pennington,  New 
Jersey,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Woolseys 
were,  as  they  have  been  from  the  beginning 
and  are  now,  among  the  most  worthy,  pious, 
and  influential  people.     He  preached  in  the 
Episcopal  church  in  Hopewell,  and  his  being 
allowed  to  do  this  was  one  of  the  charges  of 
wrong  doing  brought   in    1712  against  Gov- 
ernor Hunter  by  the  Rev.  Jacob  Henderson, 
an  Irishman,  who  had  been  sent  to  this  coun- 
try in  1710  by  the  Church  of  England  Socie- 
ty for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  For- 
eign Parts.     The  controversy  between   Gov- 
ernor Hunter  and  the  Episcopal  ministers  who 
supported  his  administration  in  religious  af- 
fairs  on   the   one   side,  and  on  the  other  side 
the  ministers  of  the  same  denomination  who 
opposed  his  proceedings,  was  sharp  and  bit- 
ter, each  flatly  contradicting  the  other's  state- 
ments.    See  Documentary   History    of   New 
York  ;  documents  pertaining  to   the  Colonial 
History  of  this  State  ;   Webster's  History  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  page  353  ;  Sprague's 
Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  Vol.  5,  p.  34. 
But  whatever  the  consequences  of  his  minis- 
try to  himself  or  to  others,  Mr.  Woolsey  did 
not  cease  to  preach  the  gospel.     On  the  con- 


PASTORS    AUTOGRAPH.  259 

trary,  he  proclaimed  the  divine  word  when- 
ever he  was  providentially  called  to  utter  it 
as  the  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  this  way 
it  came  to  pass  that  he  was  installed  the  Pas- 
tor of  the  First  Church  of  Southold  in  July, 
1720. 


Autograph  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolscy  in  ij^i. 

Here  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  office  for 
sixteen  years.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  see- 
ing the  intellectual  and  spiritual  life  of  the 
Church  and  Town  flourish  under  his  ministry. 

Among  the  fruits  of  this  life  was  the  pro- 
duction of  several  pious  and  aspiring  young- 
men  who  were  an  honor  to  their  native  place 
and  a  benefit  to  other  parts  of  the  country  in 
which  they  lived  during  their  later  years. 

Abner  Reeve,  a  son  of  Thomas  Reeve,  was 
born  in  Southold  in  1710.  He  acquired  a 
liberal  education.  Having  finished  the  course 
of  studies  in  Yale  College,  he  was  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1731,  when  he  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  He  studied  theology  three  or 
four  years,  and  was  licensed  in  Southold  to 


26O  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

preach  the  gospel,  in  1735.  He  settled  in 
the  same  year  at  Nesaquake  in  Smithtown. 
He  was  the  first  minister  who  ever  resided  in 
that  town.  His  disposition  was  amiable  and 
his  scholarship  excellent ;  but  his  habits  were 
somewhat  eccentric,  and  the  social  customs  of 
the  times  led  him  into  the  intemperate  use  of 
strong  drink,  so  that  he  was  for  a  time  laid 
aside  from  the  ministry,  after  he  had  served 
as  a  licensed  preacher  at  Smithtown,  Fire 
Place,  and  Huntington  for  ten  or  twelve  years. 
He  returned  to  his  native  place  in  Southold, 
and  here,  under  the  faithful  ministry  of  our 
fifth  pastor,  the  Rev.  William  Throop,  he  was 
restored  to  sobriety  and  the  life  of  godliness. 
The  people  of  Moriches  and  Ketchabonnach 
obtained  his  services,  and  on  the  sixth  of  No- 
vember, 1755,  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  in 
"  the  Western  Meeting  House,"  organized 
the  church  of  Moriches  and  ordained  and  in- 
stalled him  as  its  Pastor.  At  his  request,  the 
Rev.  William  Throop,  of  Southold,  was  invited 
to  preach  the  sermon  ;  and  accordingly  Mr. 
Throop  preached  from  this  text,  I.  Cor  9:  27. 
"  I  kit  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection:  lest  that  by  any  means  when  I 


REV.    ABNER    REEVE.  26 I 

have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a 
castaway." 

Mr.  Reeve  was  the  Pastor  of  Moriches  for 
eight  years.  Having  been  dismissed  in  1763, 
he  settled  in  Blooming  Grove,  Orange  Coun- 
ty, New  York.  He  withdrew  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  in  1770,  and  afterwards 
became  the  minister  of  Burlington,  Vermont, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1795,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

The  Rev.  Ezra  Reeve  was  the  eldest  son  of 
the  Rev.  Abner  Reeve,  and  was  born  in  1733, 
and  honors  the  Town  of  Southold,  the  place 
of  his  birth.  He  prepared  for  College  in  his 
boyhood  and  having  finished  the  regular 
course  he  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1757,  be- 
ing in  the  same  class  with  the  eminent  Judge 
and  United  States  Senator  John  Sloss  Hobart 
and  the  famous  Gov.  Edmund  Fanning,  who 
was  a  Southold  man.  Mr.  Reeve  \vas  ordain- 
ed and  installed  the  first  Pastor  of  Holland, 
Hampden  county,  Massachusetts,  September 
13,  1765,  the  year  that  the  Church  was  organ- 
ized. He  fulfilled  his  ministry  faithfully,  and 
died  there  April  25,  1818,  aged  eighty-five 
years. 

The   Rev.  Abncr   Reeve's  wife  was    Mary 


262  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

Topping ;  and  one  of  their  sons  was  named 
after  her  family  ;  but  in  his  case,  Tapping  has 
become  the  established  spelling.  It  was 
while  his  parents  lived  at  Fire  Place,  in  the 
Town  of  Brook  Haven,  that  Tapping  Reeve 
was  born  in  October  1744.  He  prepared  for 
College,  studied  in  Princeton,  and  was  grad- 
uated in  1763,  the  same  year  that  his  father 
was  released  from  the  pastoral  care  of  Mo- 
riches. While  he  was  in  Princeton,  he  form- 
ed an  acquanitance  with  the  only  daughter  of 
the  President  of  the  College,  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Burr,  and  in  due  season,  he  married  her. 
She  was  a  grand-daughter  of  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, the  father-in-law  and  successor  of  Mr. 
Burr  as  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey, and  her  only  brother  was  the  third  Vice 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Tapping  Reeve  settled  in  Litchfielcl,  Con- 
necticut; founded  the  celebrated  Law  School 
of  that  place;  and  became  the  Chief  Justice 
of  the  State.  He  was  the  head  of  the  School 
for  nearly  forty  years,  and  taught  a  larger 
number  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in  the 
United  States  than  any  man  of  his  own  gener- 
ation or  of  any  previous  age.  On  his  death, 
Dec.  13,  1823,  his  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ly- 


REV.    SIMON    MORTON.  263 

man  Beecher,  said  of  him :  "I  have  never 
known  a  man  who  loved  so  many  persons 
and  was  himself  beloved  by  so  many."  1  Ie 
was  the  first  lawyer  of  prominence  in  this 
country  who  labored  to  make  a  change  in  the 
laws  controlling1  the  property  of  married 
women. 

Another  of  the  boys  who  grew  up  under 
Mr.  Woolsey's  ministry  was  Simon  I  lorton. 
His  parents  were  Joshua  Horton,  Ensign, 
and  Eliza  or  Elizabeth  (Grover)  Morton. 
His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Simon  Gro- 
ver, whose  wife  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Moore.  Joshua  Horton,  Ensign, 
was  a  son  ol  Joshua  Horton  son  of  the  orig- 
inal Barnabas. 

Simon  Horton  was  born  March  30,  i  / 1  i . 
According  to  the  tradition  of  the  family,  both 
himself  and  his  second  cousin,  the  Rev.  Aza- 
riah  Horton,  were  born  in  the  dwelling  of 
their  great-grandfather,  the  old  Barnabas 
Horton  house,  which  is  still  (1876)  occupied, 
though  more  than  two  hundred  and  thirty 

e>  J 

years  old.*      He  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  the 


264  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

same  class  with  his  townsman,  Abner  Reeve, 
in  1731.  He  pursued  his  theological  studies, 
most  likely  with  his  pastor,  for  a  few  years, 
and  some  time  between  September,  1 734,  and 
September,  1735,  he  was  ordained  by  the 
Presbytery  of  East  Jersey,  and  installed  as 
the  first  pastor  of  Connecticut  Farms,  four  or 
five  miles  from  the  city  of  Elizabeth,  New 
Jersey.  His  parish  covered  a  large  extent  of 
territory,  and  included  the  present  parish  of 
Springfield,  New  Jersey.  He  belonged  to 
the  New  Side  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  as 
mi^ht  be  inferred  from  his  associations.  He 

o 

removed  from  Connecticut  Farms  in  1746, 
and  was  succeeded  there  by  Southold's  fourth 
pastor,  the  Rev.  James  Davenport,  while  he 
himself  was  installed  as  the  successor  of  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Pomeroy  in  the  pastoral  office 
at  Newtown,  Long  Island. 

Here  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  office 
until  1 772,  when  he  resigned,  and  thereafter 
resided  with  his  son-in-law,  Judge  Benjamin 
Coe,  of  Newtown.  During  the  later  years  of 
his  life,  he  was  sent  by  the  Presbytery  yearly 
to  supply  the  East  and  West  Houses  on  Stat- 
en  Island.  He  died  May,  8,  1786.  He  was 
twice  married — first  to  Abigail  Howell,  who 


REV.    AZARIAH    IIORTON.  265 

died  May  5,  1752,  and  secondly,  January  7, 
1762,  to  Elizabeth  Fish.  His  only  child  was 
Phcebe,  who  became  the  wife  of  Judge  Coe . 
Throughout  the  War  of  Independence,  he  was 
an  earnest  and  active  patriot,  and  was  driven 
with  his  son-in-law  from  his  home  by  the  Brit- 
ish. They  found  a  refuge  in  Warwick,  Or- 
ange County,  New  York. 

The  Newtown  congregation  was  so  thor- 
oughly scattered  by  the  war,  that  only  five  of 
its  communicants  remained  at  the  return  of 
peace.  The  British  and  Tories  had  utterly 
ruined  the  Church  building. 

The  Rev.  Simon  Horton  was  a  man  of  me- 
dium size,  good  character,  devoted  piety,  and 
solemn  deportment. 

His  successor  at  Newtown  in  the  pastoral 
office  was  the  Rev,  Nathan  Woodhull,  a  native 
of  Brook  Haven,  Long  Island. 

A  few  years  younger  than  Simon  Horton, 
and  born  in  the  same  old  Barnabas  Horton 
house,  was  Azariah  Horton,  a  son  of  Jonathan, 
whose  father  was  Jonathan,  the  youngest  son 
and  principal  heir  of  Barnabas,  succeeding 
him  in  the  possession  of  the  homestead. 
Azariah's  mother,  the  wife  of  Jonathan  Hor- 
ton, Jr.,  was  Mary  Tuthill.  Her  family  was 


266  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

one  of  the  earliest  in  the  Town,  John  Tuthill 
being  the  chief  executive  officer  thereof  in 
1642  by  appointment  or  recognition  of  the 
General  Court  for  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  New 
Haven  Colony,  including  the  Town  of  South- 
old  ;  and  the  members  of  the  Tuthill  family, 
descendants  of  Henry  Tuthill,  are  now  more 
numerous,  and  together  possess  more  taxable 
property,  than  those  of  any  other  family  in  the 
Town. 

Azariah  Horton  was  born  March  20,  1715. 
His  boyhood  was  bright  and  virtuous  ;  and 
having  prepared  for  College,  he  entered  Yale, 
and  pursued  the  full  course  of  studies.  He 
was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1735,  being 
ranked  in  social  standing  second  below  Pres- 

o 

ident  Burr  and  sixth  above  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bell- 
amy. He  prepared  himself  after  his  gradua- 
tion more  particularly  for  the  ministry,  and 
was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York 
in  1740.  He  received  a  call  to  settle  in  a  de- 
sirable parish  on  Long  Island  ;  but  he  declin- 
ed this  call,  in  order  to  labor  for  the  more 
destitute  heathen,  especially  the  Shinnecocks 
in  the  To\vn  of  Southampton  ;  and  for  nine 
years,  from  1741  to  1750,  he  was  a  mission- 
ary among  the  Indians  of  Long  Island. 


REV.  AZARIAH    HORTON.  267 

There  was  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  a  "  So- 
ciety for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge ;  " 
and  it  was  this  Society  that  supported  the 
Missionaries  David  and  John  Brainerd,  as 
well  as  Azariah  Horton,  in  their  labors  for  the 
Indians.  Here  is  an  extract  from  Minutes  of 
this  Society : 

"Edinburgh,  2d  November,  1749. 
"The  Correspondents  at  New  York  had 
likewise  sent  hither  journals  of  the  Rev'd  Mr. 
John  Brainerd,  from  the  ist  May,  1748,10  7th 
September,  1749,  and  of  Azariah  Horton  from 
the  26th  August,  1748,10  the  9th  April,  1749, 
as  Missionary  Ministers  employed  by  this  So- 
ciety for  the  conversion  of  the  infidel  Indian 
natives  living  upon  the  borders  of  the  Provinces 
of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania, 
bearino-  their  clilio-ence  and  success  in  their 

o  c> 

mission."     See  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas    Brainerd's 
Life  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  pp.  157,  158. 

Some  of  Azariah  Horton's  Journals,  thus 
kept  for  the  Scotch  Missionary  Society  that 
employed  him,  were  printed,  and  quotations 
from  them  are  found  in  Prime's  History  of 
Long  Island  and  in  Furman's  Antiquities  of 
Long  Island. 

He  went  in  1742  to  the  Forks  of  the  Dela- 
ware (Delaware  and  Lehigh  rivers  at  Easton, 


268  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Pa.),  to  prepare  the  Indians  there  for  the 
ministry  of  Brainerd.  Like  his  cousin  Simon 
Horton,  he  was  a  New  Side  man  in  his  sym- 
pathies and  associations. 

In  a  letter  written  at  Southampton,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1751,  he  speaks  of  the  annoyance 
which  "  The  Separates  "  were  causing  him, 
and  the  same  spirit  causes  annoyance  in  these 
days  to  the  faithful,  intelligent  and  worthy 
ministration  of  the  gospel  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  Shinnecock  tribe. 

When  his  work  among  the  Indians,  as  a 
missionary  to  the  heathen,  became  essentially 
accomplished,  he  withdrew  from  the  field,  and 
became  the  first  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Mad- 
ison, New  Jersey,  in  1751,  this  church  having 
been  formed  by  taking  a  part  of  Hanover  for 
the  purpose  in  1748.  He  faithfully  served 
this  church  for  twenty-five  years,  and  then  re- 
signed his  charge  in  November,  1776.  On 
the  27th  of  March  in  the  next  year,  he  died. 
The  inscription  on  his  tomb-stone  in  the  old 
church  yard  is  this  : 

"  In  memory  of  the  Rev.  Azariah  Horton, 
for  25  years  Pastor  of  this  Church.  Died 
March  27,  1777,  aged  62  years." 

The  volume  of  Barber  and  Howe's  Histori- 


JUDGE    THOMAS   YOUNGS.  269 

cal  Collections  of  New  Jersey,  page  377,  gives 
this  inscription.  Some  twenty  years  since, 
an  unknown  gentleman  appeared  in  Madison 
and  set  up  a  more  beautiful  monument  at  the 
Rev.  Azariah  Horton's  grave.  Mr.  Morton's 
only  son  died  in  Philadelphia. 

The  Rev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  D.  D.,  is 
one  of  the  descendants  of  the  Rev.  Azariah 
Horton.  See  Horton  Genealogy  by  George 
F.  Horton,  M.D.,  Philadelphia,  1876,  p.  184. 

Thomas  Youngs,  another  of  the  lads  under 
Mr.  Woolsey's  ministry,  was  born  here  in  1719. 
Having  prepared  for  College  and  pursued  the 
course  of  studies  in  Yale,  he  was  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1741,  a  class  eminent  for  the 
ability  of  its  members,  containing  Governor 
Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  Rev.  Drs.  Mans- 
field, Hopkins,  Buell,  Sproat,  and  Welles,  with 
Rev.  Messrs.  Stephen  Williams,  David  Brain- 
erd,  Thomas  Lewis,  David  Youngs,  and  other 
distinguished  men. 

Thomas  Youngs  became  the  Judge  of  his 
native  County,  and  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature,  in  which  he  served  his  country 
from  1784  to  1786.  His  death  occurred  on 
the  i Qth  of  February,  1793.  He  was  a  son 
of  Judge  Joshua  Youngs,  who  was  a  son  of 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Zerubbabel,  whose  father  was  Col.  John 
Youngs,  the  eldest  son  of  the  first  Pastor. 

Thomas  Youngs  married  Rhoda  Budd,  and 
made  his  home  in  that  part  of  the  Town 
which  was  then  called  Stirling,  and  near  the 
present  Stirling  Creek.  He  owned  about  his 
house  some  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  east 
of  Greenport,  and  extending  from  Long  Isl- 
and Sound  to  Gardiner's  Bay.  He  held  his 
land  firmly,  and  his  son  Thomas,  who  became 
its  possessor  after  the  death  of  the  Judge,  fol- 
lowed his  example.  It  is  now  the  property  of 
the  Judge's  grand-sons  and  their  heirs,  and 
of  the  Hon.  David  G.  Floyd,  and  the  heirs  of 
the  Hon.  Frederick  W.  Lord,  A.M.,  M.D. 

David  Youngs,  a  kinsman  of  Judge  Thomas 
Youngs,  and  born  in  the  same  Town  and  in 

£>      ' 

the  same  year,  1719,  was  a  fellow  student  in 
the  same  class  and  received  his  degree  from 
Yale  at  the  same  time.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Samu- 
el Hopkins,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  his 
College  class-mate,  commended  him  as  excel- 
ling Brainerd  and  Buell  in  fervency  of  spirit 
and  Christian  zeal.  He  became  the  Pastor  of 
Brook  Haven.  This  Congregation,  on  the 
29th  of  May,  1742,  besought  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Brunswick  to  ordain  him,  and  the 


REV.    DAVID    YOUNGS.  27  f 

Presbytery  granted  the  request,  and  ordained 
him  on  the  i2th  of  October,  1742.  In  1746, 
the  year  after  the  formation  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York,  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick 
gave  him  leave  to  join  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York  on  account  of  its  being-  more  convenient 
to  him  to  be  a  member  of  the  latter  body. 
In  May,  1749,  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Suffolk  by  vote  and  direction 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York.  He  died  before 
May  27,  1752  ;  for  on  this  day  the  Presbytery 
of  Suffolk  made  a  record  of  his  death  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Since  our  last  session,  [September  18, 
1751],  the  Rev.  Mr.  David  Youngs  of  Brook 
Haven  departed  this  life."  See  Suffolk  Pres- 
bytery's Records,  p.  20. 

"The  Separates "  had  greatly  weakened 
his  congregation,  and  the  consequences  are 
visible  within  the  bounds  of  the  Setauket  par- 
ish until  this  day. 

Migration  from-  Sotithold  westward  has 
never  ceased  from  the  earliest  years  of  our 
history  till  the  present  time.  Every  State  of 
the  Union  most  likely  contains  families  or  in- 
dividuals whose  ancestors  went  forth  from 
this  swarming  hive.  The  more;  westward 


2/2  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Towns  of  Long  Island  ;  Orange  County,  New 
York ;  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  and  the  region 
about  it ;  and  several  places  in  Morris  County, 
New  Jersey,  received  many  inhabitants  from 
this  place  during  the  first  century  of  its  his- 
tory. The  Town  of  Chester,  Morris  County, 
New  Jersey,  for  example,  may  be  regarded  as 
a  colony  from  the  East  End  of  Long  Island. 
The  founders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
were  mainly  from  the  Hamptons.  The  Con- 
gregational Church  shows  a  preponderance  of 
Southold  names.  The  Town  of  Chester  was 
territorially  formed  from  Roxbury  in  1799. 
Barber  and  Howe  say  : 

"The  first  permanent  settlement  in  the 
Township  was  made  by  emigrants  from  Long 
Island,  who  founded  the  Presbyterian  Church." 
See  Historical  Collections,  page  379. 

The  Rev.  Frank  A.  Johnson,  Pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Chester,  in  a  Cen- 

o        <"> 

tennial  Historical  Discourse,  on  the  2d  of 
July,  1876,  makes  this  quotation  : 

"  The  tract  of  land  now  constituting  the 
Township  of  Chester  was  surveyed  and  run 
into  lots  in  1713  and  1714,  and  began  soon 
after  to  be  settled  with  emigrants  from  South- 
old,  Long  Island." 

He  adds  : 


SOUTHOLD    EMIGRANTS.  273 

"  It  was  in  their  hearts  to  do  as  their  fathers 
had  done  :  plant  a  church  of  the  same  faith  and 
form  of  government  as  that  in  which  they  had 
been  baptized  and  to  which  they  owed  so 
much." 

The  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Chester,  New  Jersey,  as  well  as  the  Congre- 
gational Pastor,  has  kindly  given  me  informa- 
tion in  respecl  to  that  Town  and  its  settle- 
ment. 

The  Presbyterian  Pastor  is  the  Rev.  James 
F.  Brewster,  a  descendant  of  the  Rev.  Na- 
thaniel P>rewster,  the  first  Pastor  of  Brook 
Haven,  Long  Island,  who  was  a  grandson  of 
William  Brewster,  the  Ruling  Elder  of  the 
Pilgrims  who  came  to  Plymouth  in  the  May- 
flower. 

In  the  Historical  Sermon  which  the  Rev. 
James  F.  Brewster  preached  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Chester,  July  2,  1876,  he 
said  : 

"  More  than  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago  a 
little  band  of  Presbyterian  pioneers  from  the; 
eastern  end  of  Long  Island — a  section  which 
has  ever  been  a  stronghold  of  Presbyterian  ism 
—brought  among  these;  hills  the  faith  and 
worship  of  their  fathers,  and,  like  the  ancient 
patriarch,  they  built  their  altar  and  called 


274  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

upon  their  God,  on  the  spot  which  they  had 
made  their  home,  as  soon  as  they  were  strong 
enough  to  unite  themselves."  "  The  founders 

c> 

of  the  church,  with  their  children  and  their 
children's  children,  are  sleeping  in  the  dust, 
but  their  work,  by  God's  blessing,  still  stands  ; 
the  glorious  gospel  still  is  proclaimed,  through 
which,  as  we  trust,  hundreds  upon  hundreds 
have  here  obtained  salvation,  and  from  among 
these  hills  have  ascended  to  Heaven." 

The  church  of  Chester  seems  to  have  been 
divided  about  1/45,  and  a  part  of  it  to  have 
accepted  the  sentiments  of  "  the  Separates," 
and  to  have  maintained  fellowship  with  this 
division  of  the  Congregationalists  on  Long 
Island.  The  part  that  continued  to  cherish 
and  maintain  the  views  and  principles  of  the 
churches  of  the  standing  order  in  New  Eng- 
land and  on  Long  Island,  became  Presby- 
terians ;  and  having  called  a  pastor,  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick  ordained  and 
installed  him  in  the  autumn  of  1752. 

There  was  an  effort  made,  during  the  latter 

<_> 

years  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  to  reunite  the 
two  churches.  The  effort  continued  indeed 
for  six  years,  and  throughout  this  period  both 
churches  had  the  same  minister.  P>ut  the 
attempt  was  not  permanently  successful. 


CHESTER,  NEW    JERSEY.  275 

About  1785,  the  separatical  church  was  dis- 
solved ;  but  the  members  of  it  for  the  most 
part  formed  themselves  not  long-  afterwards 
into  the  present  Congregational  Church  of 
Chester,  which  is  deemed  the  oldest  Congre- 
gational Church  in  New  Jersey,  and  dates  its 
organization  1747.  It  may  be  regarded  as 
the  legitimate  successor  of  the  Separatical 
Congregation,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church 
as  the  outgrowth  of  the  Congregation  that 
retained  the  lellowship  of  the  New  England 
churches  of  "  the  Standing  Order." 

The  first  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Swezey,  who 
continued  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  the  office  for 
twenty  years  until  the  Revolutionary  war  was 
about  to  sweep  the  country  with  its  storms. 

The  church  edifice  during  the  war  became 
an  hospital  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  of 
the  National  Army  under  Washington,  whose 
headquarters  were  ten  or  twelve  miles  distant ; 
and  public  worship  in  it  was  discontinued 
throughout  the  years  1777  and  1778.  In 
consequence  of  the  deprivation  of  Christian 
instruction  and  restraint,  the  moral  and  relig- 
ious habits  of  the  people  were  greatly  impaired. 

The  Rev.  James  Youngs  was  ordained  and 


2/6  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH  OLD. 

installed  as  the  pastor  of  the  new  Congrega- 
tional Church.  He  bore  an  early  Southold 
family  name,  like  his  predecessor,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Swezey.  His  ministry  continued  un- 
til his  death  in  November,  1790,  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty-two  years.  His  death  was 
greatly  lamented. 

The  church,  for  more  than  ten  years  there- 
after, had  only  such  irregular  supplies  as  it 
was  able  on  occasion  to  obtain  from  Long- 

o 

Island. 

But  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1801,  the  Rev. 
Stephen  Overtoil  was  ordained  and  installed 
as  the  Pastor.  He  was  by  birth  or  ancestry 
a  Southolder.  Under  his  ministry  a  new 
house  of  worship  was  built  in  1803,  the  same 
year  that  the  First  Church  of  Southold  erected 
its  present  church  building.  The  new  edifice 
of  Chester  was  forty  by  fifty  feet  in  size,  with 
front  and  side  galleries,  steeple  and  bell, 
somewhat  smaller  than  the  present  Southold 
church  edifice. 

Mr.  Overton's  ministry  continued  for  twen- 
ty-seven years,  and  only  two  years  and  a  half 
after  his  release  from  the  pastorate,  he  died, 
on  the  1 8th  of  September,  1830. 

Within   the  last  fifty  years,  this  church   of 


NEW    CHURCHES. 


277 


Chester  has  had  several  pastors  and  supplies. 
The  Rev.  James  S.  Evans,  D.D.,  formerly 
pastor  of  Middletown,  Long  Island,  and  sub- 
sequently of  Setauket,  Long  Island,  and  more 
recently  the  Long  Island  Synod's  Superin- 
tendent of  Home  Missions  was  the  pastor 
from  1867  to  1871,  and  while  he  labored  with 
them  in  the  gospel,  the  congregation  built  a 
parsonage. 

But  the  old  Church  and  Town  of  Southold 
under  Mr.  Woolsey's  ministry  were  not  only 
planting  their  colonies  abroad  ;  they  were  also 
forming  new  centres  of  growth  and  new  con- 
gregations of  worshippers  at  home. 

It  was  in  the  early  part  of  1718  that  David 
Youngs  gave  a  lot  of  land  at  Oysterponcls 
(now  Orient),  for  the  purpose  of  having  at 
some  future  time  a  Meeting  House  creeled 
upon  it.  See  Town  Records,  Book  C,  p  67. 
In  1725  the  Meeting  House  was  built,  and  it 
continued  to  be  a  place  of  public  worship  till 
1818.  But  there  was  no  regular  organized 
church  in  that  part  of  the  Town  until  many 
years  after  the  building  of  the  Meeting  House. 

It  was  on  the  6th*  of  December,  1717,  that 
the  Rev.  Joseph   Lamb  was  ordained  as  the 

:;The  Salmon  Record  says  the  4th,  which  is  an  error. 

34 


278  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Minister  of  Mattituck  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Long  Island,  which  met,  organized,  and  began 
its  existence  at  Southampton  on  the  iyth  of 
April,  1717.  The  Mattituck  Church  was  or- 
ganized in  1715,  two  years  before  the  ordina- 
tion of  its  Pastor ;  and  two  years  after  his 
ordination  it  asked  to  be  taken  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery,  and  its  request  was 
granted.  Its  first  Pastor  received  ordination 
the  same  year  that  he  was  graduated  at  Yale 
College.  His  class  numbered  five  graduates  ; 
all  became  ministers — another  indication  which 
shows  how  thoroughly  Yale  in  its  early  years 
was  a  Theological  Seminary.  The  year  of  his 
graduation  was  the  year  of  the  removal  of  the 
College  from  Saybrook  to  New  Haven.  Like 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey,  who  was  grad- 
uated eight  years  earlier,  Mr.  Lamb  occupied 
the  centre  of  the  class  in  respect  to  social 
standing. 

He  remained  at  Mattituck  many  years,  and 
his  wife  died  there  in  April,  1729.  He  re- 
moved to  Baskingridge,  Somerset  County, 
New  Jersey,  previous  to  1 744,  and  on  the 
24th  of  May  in  this  year  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick. 
Soon  after  his  settlement  in  New  Jersey,  he 


LAMB,    SOUTHARD.  279 

received  into  his  congregation  the  Hon.  Henry 
Southard,  who  followed  him  from  Long  Island 
to  Baskingridge,  which  became  the  birthplace 
of  the  Hon.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  and  accomplished  of  the  sta,tes- 
men  of  New  Jersey,  who  in  the  Cabinet  of  the 
Nation  successively  performed  the  duties  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  of  the  Treasury, 
and  of  War — who  was  successively  Attorney 
General  and  Governor  of  his  native  State ; 
and  was  repeatedly  elected  United  States 
Senator,  and  President  of  the  Senate. 

When  Mr.  Lamb  became  the  Pastor  of 
Baskingridge,  the  worshippers  met  from  Sab- 
bath to  Sabbath  in  a  log-house,  the  first 
church  edifice  ever  erected  in  the  place.  But 
the  people  under  his  ministry  put  up  in  1749 
a  frame  building  far  more  commodious  than 
the  old  one  ;  and  this  new  structure  contin- 
ued in  use  for  ninety  years  until  1839,  when 
it  gave  place  to  a  stately  brick  edifice  with  a 
tall  and  graceful  spire.  Mr.  Lamb,  however, 
did  not  live  to  minister  for  many  months  in 
the  frame  building.  He  died  within  the  year 
of  its  dedication,  1749. 

The  formation  of  the  Mattituck  Church  and 
the  settlement  of  its  Pastor  and  the  prospect- 


28O  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLt). 

ive  formation  of  a  Church  at  Orient  made  an 
essential  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  condition 
of  the  people  of  the  Town.  The  citizens  were 
not  unmindful  of  this  change. 

Accordingly,  in  the  Town  Meeting  of  1720, 
it  was  voted  that  three  men  be  chosen  to  di- 
vide the  parish  lands  proportionable,  that  each 
Minister  may  improve  the  same  in  proportion, 
according  to  the  first  purchase.  Captain 
Reeve,  Captain  Booth  and  Benjamin  Youngs 
were  chosen.  See  Town  Records,  Book  D, 
page  119.  The  Town  Records  do  not  indi- 
cate the  method  and  effect  of  the  division. 
But  we  may  well  suppose  that  there  was  as- 
signed to  the  Mattituck  Minister  such  a  part 
of  the  parish  lands  as  the  property  of  his  par- 
ishioners bore  to  the  whole  property  of  all  the 
people  who  made  the  purchase  and  the  early 
improvement  of  the  Town.  This  was  to  be 
determined  in  some  way  by  the  conditions  of 
the  first  purchase  of  the  soil  of  the  Town  by 
its  founders. 

There  seems  to  be  in  the  Town  Records 
no  statement  which  marks  the  precise  time 
when  the  Town  ceased  to  collect  and  pay  the 
minister's  salary,  or  when  the  Town  Meeting 
ceased  to  discipline  church  offenders.  There 


CONVENIENCE-HOUSES.  2&I 

was  doubtless  a  gradual  preparation  for  the 
change  whereby  the  church  ceased  to  be  a 
Town  Church  and  became  an  Independent 
Church.  It  did  not  become  a  Congregational 
Church,  in  the  present  meaning  of  this  term, 
until  a  later  period  of  its  history. 

No  means  of  warming  the  church  building 
in  cold  weather  had  yet  been  provided  and 
used.  Before  the  commencement  of  the  pub- 
lic worship  in  the  forenoon,  as  well  as  between 
the  forenoon  and  the  afternoon  services,  and 
sometimes  also  before  the  return  home 
towards  the  close  of  the  Sabbath,  the  people 
resorted  to  the  private  residences  near  the 
church  edifice,  or  to  "The  Public,"  in  order 
to  warm  themselves  in  front  of  the  large  and 
open  fire-places  which  a  generous  hospitality 
kept  well  filled  with  blazing  wood  whenever 
the  temperature  out  of  doors  was  low.  But 
the  inconvenience  of  this  bountiful  hospitality 
could  not  fail  to  be  felt  as  a  burden.  Some 
better  method  was  requisite  to  enable  those 
who  needed  the  use  of  food  and  of  fire  to 
supply  their  wants  at  their  own  expense.  It 
was  therefore  voted  by  the  Town  Meeting  to 
allow  Isaac  Conkling  to  build  a  house  for 
convenience  on  the  Lord's  Day  on  the  Town 


2$2  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

lot.  This  was  one  of  the  reforms  accomplish- 
ed in  the  early  part  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Woolsey's 
pastorate  ;  for  this  permission  to  build  on  the 
Town  lot  a  convenience-house  was  granted  in 
1722.  See  Town  Records,  Book  D,  page 
119.  These  convenience-houses  became  in 
later  days  comparatively  numerous  around 
the  church  building. 

During  the  Rev.  Mr.  Woolsey's  ministry 
the  original  church  building  ceased  to  be 
needed  and  used  for  the  purpose  to  which  it 
had  been  converted  many  years  earlier  ;  and 
hence  it  was,  that  in  1727  the  Town  Meeting 
voted  to  sell  the  Prison  House. 

The  edifice  for  public  worship  had  now 
ceased  to  be  also  a  fortification,  and  subse- 
quently a  jail,  and  the  expense  of  the  public 
worship  was  soon  to  be  no  more  a  tax  as- 
sessed, collected  and  paid  by  the  Town. 

The  County  Court  had  been  held  once  a 
year  in  Southold  and  once  a  year  in  South- 
ampton for  some  forty  years  from  the  forma- 
tion of  the  county  in  1683  !  but  ^bout  1727  a 
court  house,  or  county  hall,  was  built  at  Riv- 
erhead,  which  was  formerly  in  Southold,  and 
the  court  met  in  the  new  building  for  the  first 
time,  March  27,  1729. 


PART  IV. 

PERIOD    AFTER   THE    MINISTRY   OF 
THE  REV.  BENJAMIN  WOOLSEY. 

1736-1740. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

In  1736,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey  re- 
moved from  the  Southold  parsonage  to  the 
estate  of  his  wife,  in  Oyster  Bay  township, 
Queens  county,  on  the  shore  of  Long-  Island 
Sound.  It  is  a  place  of  exceeding  beauty. 
The  gentle  hills  and  slopes  ;  the  quiet  valleys 
of  no  great  extent ;  the  fertile  fields,  rich  with 
growing  grain,  or  tinted  with  flowers  of  vari- 
ous hues,  or  enameled  with  luxuriant  grasses  ; 
the  magnificent  trees,  scattered  here  and 
there,  or  forming  clumps  of  woods,  or  even 
considerable  forests  ;  and  the  bright,  smooth 
lakes  and  bays,  with  the  larger  spaces  of  wa- 
ter visible  on  the  Sound,  all  unite  to  present 
charming  prospecls  in  every  direction.  Mr. 
Woolsey  called  the  place  Dos  uxoris,  (the 
wife's  dower),  and  by  this  name,  contracted 
into  Dosoris,  it  has  ever  since  been  known. 


286  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

It  is  nearly  two  miles  north  of  the  village 
of  Glen  Cove,  and  immediately  south  of  Mat- 
inecock  Point  on  Long  Island  Sound.  The 
original  tracl  contained  one  thousand  acres. 
It  was  bought  of  the  Matinecock  Indians  by 
Robert  Williams,  who  sold  it  to  Lewis  Morris, 
of  the  Island  of  Barbados,  a  brother  of  Rich- 
ard Morris,  the  first  owner  of  Morrisania, 
Westchester  County,  New  York.  Morris  sold 
it,  August  10,  1693,  for  ^390,  to  Daniel 
Whitehead,  of  Oyster  Bay,  who  conveyed  it 
for  the  same  price  to  his  son-in-law,  John  Tay- 
lor, of  Oyster  Bay.  Mr.  Taylor  bequeathed  it 
to  his  only  daughter,  Abigail,  whose  husband 
named  it  in  her  honor,  and  she  was  well  wor- 
thy of  his  supreme  appreciation.  He  lived 
there  at  the  head  of  a  most  generous  and  hos- 
pitable family  for  the  last  and  best  twenty 
years  of  his  life,  from  1736  to  1756.  At  his 
death,  he  devised  three-fifths  of  it  to  his  son, 
Colonel  Melan6lhon  Taylor  Woolsey,  and 
two-fifths  to  his  son,  Benjamin  Woolsey,  Jr. 
Nathaniel  Coles  bought  the  whole  estate  in 
1760,  paying  ,£4,000  for  the  larger  share  and 
,£3,600  for  the  smaller. 

Mr.  Woolsey  was  in  his  thirty-third  year 
when  he  settled  in  Southold,  and  in  his  forty- 


REV.    BENJAMIN    WOOLSEY.  287 

ninth  when  he  removed  to  Dosoris.  For  the 
next  twenty  years  he  ministered  the  gospel 
at  his  own  expense  in  various  parishes.  He 
often  preached  in  his  own  house,  giving-  a 
dinner  also  to  the  worshippers  who  came 
from  distant  places.  During  a  part  of  these 
twenty  years  he  supplied  Hempstead  on  the 
Sabbath.  His  gratuitous  services  were  abund- 
ant not  only  in  preaching  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
but  also  in  ministering  to  the  sick  and  in  con- 
dueling  the  solemnities  at  the  burial  of  the 
dead. 

His  devotion  to  his  sacred  duties  is  illus- 
trated by  the  incident  which  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Prime  relates  in  the  History  of  Long  Island, 
page  282,  to  attest  the  punctuality  of  this 
good  man  to  his  engagements,  and  his  un- 
willingness to  disappoint  the  expectations  of 
the  congregation.  During  his  ministry  at 
Hempstead,  he  was  bereaved  of  a  son,  whose 
death  took  place  on  a  Saturday.  Being  una- 
ble to  procure  any  person  to  supply  his  place 
in  the  Hempstead  pulpit,  he  deemed  it  to  be 
his  heavy  duty  to  leave  his  afflicted  family  on 
the  Sabbath,  in  order  to  fulfil  his  engage- 
ments. He  did  so,  and  performed  his  usual 
services  for  the  Hempstead  congregation. 


288  HISTORY    OF   SOUTH  OLD. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey  died  on  the 
1 5th  of  August,  1756.  A  few  days  later  there 
appeared  in  "The  Mercury  "of  New  York, 
edited  by  Hugh  Gaine,  a  tribute  to  his  worth 
in  which  it  was  said,  that  "his  intellectual 
powers  were  much  above  the  common  level, 
and  were  improved  by  a  liberal  education.  His 
universal  acquaintance  with  sacred  literature 
rendered  his  public  performances  peculiarly 
edifying  and  instructive.  His  sentiments 
were  just,  noble  and  proper ;  his  reasoning 
was  clear  and  conclusive,  and  his  pulpit  elo- 
quence manly,  nervous  and  strong.  The  zeal 
and  pathos  that  animated  his  discourses  added 
peculiar  grace  and  dignity  to  his  address,  and, 
while  it  engaged  the  attention  of  his  hearers, 
discovered  the  sincere  piety  and  fervent  de- 
votion that  warmed  and  governed  his  own 

<_> 

heart.  He  loved  good  men  of  every  profes- 
sion, and  owned  and  admired  sincere  piety, 
under  whatever  form  or  denomination  it  ap- 
peared. Justice,  charity  and  condescension, 
hospitality  and  public  spirit,  were  virtues  to 
which  he  paid  the  most  sacred  regard.  In  the 
discharge  of  the  various  duties  which  constitute 
the  tender  and  affectionate  husband,  kind  pa- 
rent, the  mild  and  gentle  master,  the  obliging 


DOSORIS.  289 

neighbor,  the  sincere,  faithful  and  unshaken 
friend,  he  had  few  equals  and  no  superiors." 

He  was  buried  at  Dosoris,  in  the  family 
cemetery,  where  fifteen  years  earlier  he  had 
buried  his  venerable  father. 

It  was  a  fair,  bright,  lovely  morning  on  the 
twenty-second  day  of  May,  1872,  when  I  vis- 
ited Dosoris  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the 
home  of  his  later  years  and  the  place  of  his 
burial.  During  the  previous  night  I  had  en- 
joyed by  invitation  the  hospitality  of  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  L.  Swan  and  his  charming  family, 
in  the  parsonage  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Oyster  Bay.  He  now  gave  me  a  seat  in 
his  carriage  and  became  my  guide  to  the  spot 
which  I  desired  to  see.  The  drive  from  Oys- 
ter Bay  to  Dosoris,  amid  the  exuberant  life  of 
the  spring-time,  with  the  air  full  of  the  fra- 
grance of  early  flowers  and  vocal  with  the 
songs  of  rejoicing  birds,  is  exceedingly  de- 
lightful, especially  in  the  company  of  a  gen- 
tleman overflowing  .with  courtesy,  kindness, 
congeniality  of  taste  and  spirit,  and  great  in- 
telligence. So  was  my  generous  host.  This 
made  the  day  memorable.  There  is  on  the 
way  an  unceasing  succession  of  various  and 
attractive  scenes  of  natural  beauty — hills, 
25 


290  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

vales,  fields,  forests  and  streams,  lakes  and 
bays,  with  here  and  there  the  wider  prospers 
of  water  on  Long  Island  Sound,  bearing  upon 
its  peaceful  bosom  the  shining  sails  of  pleas- 
ure and  of  commerce  ;  and  on  the  right  hand 
and  the  left  many  tasteful  residences  and  cul- 
tivated grounds,  crowning  the  hills,  basking 
on  the  slopes,  and  nestling  in  the  valleys, 
give  animation  and  human  interest  to  the 
views.  The  heavens  also,  during  all  that  day, 
were  in  harmony  with  the  earth.  The  great- 
er part  of  the  sky  was  a  perfect  blue  ;  but 
some  spaces  were  flecked  with  clouds  of  ethe- 
real forms  and  soft  and  gentle  tones  and  hues. 
The  light  breeze  gave  them  wings,  and  their 
graceful  movements  imparted,  on  this  glori- 
ous day  of  spring-time,  the  charm  of  life  and 
activity  to  the  ever-changing  aspects  of  both 
earth  and  heaven.  So  many  forms  of  beauty 
can  at  once  be  rarely  seen. 

Dosoris  was  then  owned  and  occupied  by 
Mr.  George  James  Price.  This  gentleman 
was  that  day  absent  from  his  home  ;  but  every 
kind  attention  was  shown  by  his  family,  and 
especially  by  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Martin  E. 
Thompson,  a  very  intelligent  and  active  octo- 
genarian, the  architect  of  the  former  Mer- 


REV.    MR.    WOOI.SEYS    DWELLING.  29! 

chants'  Exchange  of  New  York  City  and  other 
handsome  buildings  which  adorned  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  new  world  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  its  wonderful  life  and  growth  in  business, 
wealth,  population  and  greatness.  Mr.  Thomp- 
son holds,  with  the  utmost  confidence,  that 
notwithstanding  the  great  changes  made  in 
the  dwelling  in  1842,  the  west  end  of  the 
present  large  double  two  story-house,  with  a 
wide  hall  from  south  to  north  through  the 
centre,  must  be,  from  the  style,  character  and 
apfe  of  the  architecture,  and  of  the  various 

o 

carved-wood  adornments,  the  very  dwelling, 
in  part  at  least,  which  was  the  home  of  the 
Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey  during  the  last  twen- 
ty years  of  this  good  Minister's  life.  It  was 
easy  and  grateful  to  yield  one's  mind  and 
heart  to  the  benign  influence  of  the  hallowed 
associations  of  the  place. 

The  cemetery  made  sacred  by  the  graves 
of  many  members  of  the  family  is  in  a  grove 
of  locusts  trees  on  a  knoll  northeast  of  the 
residence.  The  land  viakcs  on  the  knoll,  and 
the  lower  lines  of  many  of  the  inscriptions 
are  now  some  inches  below  the  surface  of  the 
soil.  Under  the  intelligent  direction  of  Mr. 


2  9  2  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

Thompson,*  we  read  not  a  few  of  these  in- 
scriptions with  living  interest.  The  following 
is  the  inscription  at  the  head  of  the  most  at- 
traclive  grave : 

SACRED   TO  THE   MEMORY 

OF   THE   REV'O.    MR.    BENJAMIN   WOOLSEY 

WHO 

in  the  Vnited  Character  of  the  Gentleman,  the  Christian,  the  Divine 

Shone  with  distinguish'd  Lustre 
and  adorn'd  every  Station  of  public  and  private  Life 

with  Dignity  and  Vsefulness. 

Early  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel  Ministry, 

Endow'd  with  the  Gifts  of  Nature  and  Grace, 

He  employ'd  his  Superior  Talents 

In  the  service  of  his  Divine  Master 

With  Fidelity  and  Zeal. 
After  a  shineing  Course  of  Disinterested  Labours 

To  promote  the  Cause  of  True  Religion 

He  exchang'd  the  Ministry  of  the  Church  Militant  on  Earth 

For  the  Reward  of  the  Church  Triumphant  in  Heaven 

August  151)1  AD  1756  .E  69. 

An  excellent  and  remarkably  complete  ge- 
nealogy of  the  descendants  of  the  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Woolsey,  by  Benjamin  W.  Dwight,  Ph. 
D.,  one  of  his  posterity,  was  published  in  the 
New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical 
Record.  See  the  fourth  and  fifth  volumes, 
July  1873 — July  1874.  This  publication  is 

*This  accomplished  and  venerable  gentleman  died  at 
Dosoris.  July  24,  1877,  in  the  ninety-first  year  of  his 
age.  See  New  York  Weekly  Evening  Post,  August  i, 
1877. 


WOOI  .SE  VS.  293 

the  authority  for  many   of  the   statements   in 
the  following  notices  of  some  of  his  descend- 
ants.     Only   here   and   there    in    this  country 
has  lived  a  man  whose  descendants  have  been 
connected    by    blood    and    marriage    with   so 
many  persons  of  great  worth  and  distinction. 
He  had  two  sons  and  four  daughters  who 
grew  up  and  married.      His  eldest  son,  Me- 
lancthon  Taylor  Woolsey,  born  June  8,  1717, 
married  Rebekah  Lloyd,  and  his  eldest  daugh- 
ter, second  of  these  children,  Sarah  Woolsey, 
born  a  year   or   two   years   before   his   settle- 
ment    in     Southold,     married      John      Lloyd. 
These  Lloyds  were  children  of  Henry  and  Re- 
bekah   (Nelson)    Lloyd,  and  their  father  had 
the  ownership  and  occupancy  of  Lloyd's  Neck, 
about    three    thousand    acres    between    Cold 
Spring-   Harbor  and  Huntington  Harbor,  pat- 
ented by  Governor  Dongan  in   16(85  WI'tri   tne 
rights    and     privileges     of    a    manor     named 
Queen's  Village.      Henry   Lloyd  was  a  son  of 
James  Lloyd,  of  Boston,  and  his  wife  (ireselda 
Sylvester,  of  Shelter  Island,  whose  lover,  Lati- 
mer  Sampson,  gave  her  by  his  will  one  halt 
of  this  tract  ol   three  thousand  acres.     After 
her  marriage  to   James    Lloyd,   her    husband 
bought  the  other  half.     After  his  death,   his 
son  Henry  became  the  owner  of  the  whole  ot 


2*94  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

the  peninsula  and  made  it  his  home,  in  1711. 
It  remains  in  the  ownership  and  possession 
of  his  descendants.  The  following  letter  of 
Henry  Lloyd,  it  has  been  said,  discloses  the 
character  both  of  persons  and  of  times. 

"Lloyd's  Manor,  Oct.  10,  1741. 

"  SIR  : — As  my  son  John  has  sometime  made 
suit  to  your  daughter,  Miss  Sarah,  I  conclude 
it  is  with  your  and  Mrs.  Woolsey's  approbation  ; 
andr  at  his  request,  I  hereby  signify  mine — 
hoping  if  they  come  together,  it  may  be  to 
their  mutual  happiness  and  with  the  good 
liking  of  all  concerned.  His  circumstances 
being  such  as  to  enable  him  to  live  comforta- 
bly without  any  immediate  dependence  on 
me,  I  think  little  need  be  said  on  that  head, 
only  thus  far — as  he  is  my  son  and  has  much 
of  my  affection,  I  have,  in  the  disposition  of 
what  estate  I  possess,  considered  him  as  such, 
without  being  over-concerned  to  make  an  el- 
der son  to  the  disinheriting  of  the  younger 
children.  And  I  shall  trust  that  Mrs.  Wool- 
sey  and  you  will  provide  for  Miss  Sarah,  as 
your  daughter. 

I  pray  our  best  regards  may  be  acceptable 
to  yourself  and  lady — not  forgetting  your 
young  lady. 

1  am,  sir,  your  very  humble  servant, 

H.  LLUYD. 

To  the  Rev.  Benjamin  YVoolsey, 

Dosoris,  Long  Island." 


M.    T.    WOOLSKV.  295 

Melanclhon  Taylor  Woolsey  entered  the 
army  during  the  war  against  the  French  and 
Indians,  had  the  rank  of  Colonel  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1758,  and  died  in  the  military  service 
of  his  country  at  Crown  Point,  New  York, 
September  28,  1758,  in  his  forty-second  year. 
He  and  his  daughters  Abigail,  Elizabeth  and 
Mary  were  buried  at  Dosoris.  His  daughter 
Rebekah,  born  August  22,  1755,  married, 
October  10,  1782,  James  Hilihouse  of  New 
Haven,  whose  father  was  Judge  William  Hill- 
house  and  \vhose  mother,  Sarah,  was  a  sister 
of  the  first  Governor  Griswold  ot  Connecti- 
cut. His  grandfather  was  the  Rev.  fames 
Hilihouse,  whose  wife  was  a  granddaughter 
of  the  Rev.  James  Fitch,  of  Saybrook,  and 
Priscilla,  daughter  of  Cant.  John  Mason,  the 
hero  of  the  Pequot  war. 

Rebekah  Woolsey' s  husband  was  graduated 
at  Yale  in  1773,  a  member  of  the  State  Leg- 
islature, Treasurer  of  Yale  College  fifty  years, 
from  1782  to  1832,  member  ot  the  L.  S. 
House  of  Representatives  six  years,  irom 
1790  to  1796,  and  thereafter  LT.  S.  Senator 
fourteen  years,  until  1810.  He;  planted  the 
elms  which  have  given  to  New  Haven  the 
name  of  "The  Elm  City."  His  first  wife  was 


296  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Sarah  Lloyd,  daughter  of  John  Lloyd  and 
Sarah  Woolsey.  She  was  born  in  1753.  The 
husband  of  these  two  descendants  of  our  third 
pastor — being  cousins — died  December  29, 
1832,  aged  78  years.  Probably  no  other  man 
has  ever  done  as  much  for  the  beauty  and 
prosperity  of  New  Haven  as  he  did.  His 
wife  Rebekah  died  December  30,  1813. 

Among  the  Hillhouse  descendants  of  our 
third  pastor  were  James  A.  Hillhouse,  author 
of  "Percy's  Masque,"  "Hadad,"  and  other  vol- 
umes ;  and  Rebekah  Woolsey  Hillhouse,  first 
wife  of  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Hewit,  D.  D.,  and 
mother  of  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Augustus  Hew- 
it, D.  D.,  an  eloquent  and  celebrated  preach- 
er of  the  order  of  Paulists  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church. 

Melancthon  Lloyd  Woolsey,  son  of  Col. 
Melancthon  Taylor  Woolsey  and  Rebekah 
Lloyd,  was  born  at  Queen's  Village,  now 
Lloyd's  Neck,  May  8,  1/58.  He  became  an 
officer  of  the  Revolutionary  army  as  an  aid  to 
Governor  George  Clinton.  During  the  war, 
on  March  23,  1779,  he  married  Alida,  daugh- 
ter ot  Henry  Livingston,  ot  Poughkeepsie, 
whose  wife  Susan  was  a  daughter  of  John 
Conklin.  Alida  Livingston  was  a  sister  of  the 


Mi    I,.    WOOLSEY.  297 

Rev.  John  H,  Livingston,  D.  D.,  who  was 
the  first  Professor  of  Divinity  of  the  Reform- 
ed Dutch  Church  and  opened  their  first  reg- 
ular Theological  Seminary  in  the  United 
States,  in  1795.  This  Institution  of  sacred 
learning  began  its  beneficent  work  at  Bedford, 
Long  Island.  In  1807  his  Professorship  was 
united  to  Rutgers  College  at  New  Brunswick, 
New  Jersey,  and  he  was  continued  in  his  office 
of  Professor  of  Theology  and  also  chosen  to 
be  the  President  of  the  College.  His  sister 
Alida,  the  wife  of  Gen.  Woolsev,  was  the 

j 

granddaughter  of  Gilbert  Livingston,  a 
grandson  of  the  Rev.  John  Livingston,  an 
energetic  Minister  of  the  gospel,  who  for  the 
purity  and  excellence  of  his  preaching  was 
driven  by  the  persecutions  of  the  prelatical 
party  from  Scotland  to  Holland  in  1663,  and 
whose  son  Robert  came  to  New  York  about 
1675  and  in  1686  received  from  Gov.  Dongan 
the  title  to  a"  large  tract  of  land,  including  a 
great  part  of  the  present  counties  ot  Dutch- 
ess  and  Columbia,  still  known  as  Livingston 
Manor;  for  in  1715  George  I.  erected  the; 
manor  and  lordship  of  Livingston  with  the 
privilege  of  holding  a  court  Icet  and  a  court 

r  «->  o 

baron,  and  with  the  right  of  advowson  to  all 


298  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD, 

the  churches  within  its  boundaries.  Gen. 
Woolsey  retired  from  the  army  in  1780,  but 
afterwards  became  a  Major  General  of  the 
State  militia.  He  made  his  home  at  Cumber- 
land Head,  near  Plattsburgh,  was  for  many 
years  the  Collector  of  the  customs  for  the 
Plattsburgh  District,  and  also  the  Clerk  of 
Clinton  county.  He  died  at  Trenton,  New 
York,  June  29,  1819.  His  widow  died  at  Os- 
wego,  July  12,  1843,  aged  85  years. 

Melanclhon  Taylor  Woolsey,  the  first-born 
of  their  eight  children,  six  of  whom  grew  up 
and  married,  was  born  June  5,  1780.  He  en- 
tered the  Navy  of -the  United  States  in  1800, 
fought  under  Com.  Decatur  against  Tripoli, 
and  against  England  under  Com.  Chauncey  in 
the  war  of  1812.  He  commanded  the  U.  S. 
force  at  Oswego  when  the  British  were  gal- 
lantly repulsed  at  that  point.  He  was  after- 
wards transferred  to  the  larger  field  ol  the 
ocean  service  and  commanded  at  the  West 
India  Station,  Pensacola,  Fla.,  and  subsequent- 
ly commanded  the  Brazilian  Squadron.  He 
married,  Nov.  3,  1817,  Susan  Cornelia  Tread- 
well,  daughter  of  James  Treadwell,  of  New 
York.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Utica,  New 
York,  May  19,  1838.  She  died  at  Stamford, 


BENJAMIN    WOOLSEY,  JR.  299 

Connecticut,  March  13,  1863,  in  her  sixty- 
seventh  year.  They  had  seven  children,  in- 
cluding Capt.  Melanclhon  Brooks  Woolsey,  of 
the  U.  S.  Navy,  and  Quartermaster  Richard 
Lansing  Woolsey,  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  as  well 
as  Alida  Livingston  Woolsey,  wife  of  the 
Rev.  Isaac  Pierson  Stryker,  of  New  York 
City,  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Woolsey,  wife  of  the 
Rev.  Frank  Windsor  Braithwaite,  of  Stamford, 
Connecticut. 

Our  third  pastor's  second  son,  Benjamin, 
was  born  Feb.  12,  1720,  the  year  of  his  set- 
tlement in  Southold.  This  son  was  graduated 
at  Yale  in  1744,  second  in  his  class  of  fifteen, 
and  next  above  the  celebrated  William  Sam- 
uel Johnson,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Connecticut,  U.  S.  Senator,  and  President  of 
Columbia  College,  New  York  City.  Benja- 
min Woolsey,  Jr.,  succeeded  his  father  in  the 
possession  and  occupancy  oi  Dosoris,  and 
was  a  magistrate  of  the  colony  for  many  years 
previous  to  his  death,  September  9,  1/71. 
He  married  first  Esther  Isaacs,  daughter  of 
Ralph  Isaacs,  a  merchant  of  Norwalk,  Conn., 
and  Mary  Rumsey,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Rumsey,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.  Esther  Isaacs 
Woolsey  died  March  29,  1756,  aged  twenty- 


3OO  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

five  years,  about  seven  years  after  her  mar- 
riage. Mr.  Woolsey  married  a  second  wife, 
Ann  Muirson,  daughter  of  Dr.  George  Muir- 
son  of  Setauket  and  Anna  Smith,  daughter 
of  Judge  Henry  Smith,  eldest  son  of  William 
Smith,  Governor  of  Tangiers,  Chief  Justice  of 
New  York,  President  of  the  Council  and  act- 
ing Governor  of  the  Colony.  Benjamin 
Woolsey,  Jr.,  had  three  children  by  Ijis  first 
wife,  namely,  Sarah,  who  married  Moses  Rog- 
ers, one  of  three  brothers,  each  of  whom 
founded  a  great  mercantile  house  that  con- 
tinued forty  years  in  New  York,  and  two  of 
whose  sisters  were  wives  of  eminent  and 
wealthy  merchants  in  that  city.  Moses  Rog- 
ers was  Governor  of  the  New  York  Hospital, 
Director  of  the  U.  S.  Bank,  Treasurer  of  the 
City  Dispensary,  Vestryman  of  Trinity  Church, 
and  active  in  the  Benevolent  Societies  of  the 
city.  Their  daughter  Sarah  Elizabeth  Rogers 
married  the  Hon.  Samuel  Miles  Hopkins, 
Member  of  the  U.  S.  Congress,  and  founder 
ol  the  village  of  Moscow,  New  York,  whose 
children  include  William  Rogers  Hopkins, 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  U.  S.  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis,  Maryland  ;  and  the  Rev. 
S.  M.  Hopkins,  D.  1.).,  who  was  graduated  at 


ROGERS,    HOPKINS.  30 1 

Amherst  College  in  1832,  and  at  "Auburn 
Theological  Seminary  in  1836,  Pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  churches  of  Corning  and  of  Fre- 
donia,  New  York,  and  since  1847  Hyde  Pro- 
fessor of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 
Polity  in  Auburn  Theological  Seminary. 
One  of  his  sons  is  the  Rev.  Abel  Grosvenor 
Hopkins,  who  was  graduated  at  Hamilton 
College  in  1866  and  at  Auburn  Theological 
Seminary  in  1869,  and  is  the  Professor  of  the 
Latin  Language  and  Literature  in  Hamilton 
College.  Benjamin  Woolsey  Rogers,  son  of 
Moses  and  Sarah  Woolsey  Rogers,  was  a 
large  importer  of  hardware  in  New  York, 
thirty-eight  years  a  Governor  of  the  New 
York  Hospital,  and  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Bloomingdale  Asylum.  His  daughter 
Sarah  married  William  P.  Van  Rensselaer, 
son  of  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  of  Albany, 
the  Patroon.  His  son  Benjamin  Woolsey 
married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Richard  Kissam 
Hoffman,  a  celebrated  surgeon  of  New  York 
City,  and  their  son  Hoffman  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  Hon.  John  Ferdon,  of  Piermont, 
New  York.  Another  son  of  Moses  and  Sarah 
Woolsey  Rogers,  Archibald  Rogers,  married 
a  daughter  of  Judge  Nathaniel  Pendleton,  an 
26 


302  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

intimate  friend  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and 
his  second  in  the  fatal  duel  with  Aaron  Burr. 
Archibald  Rogers's  son  Edmund  Pendleton 
Rogers  is  the  proprietor  of  the  "  Quintard 
Iron  Works  "  in  New  York,  and  his  daughter 
Susan  Bard  Rogers  is  the  wife  of  Herman, 
son  of  John  T.  Livingston,  who  owns  a  line 
of  steamers  hailing  from  New  York. 

Benjamin,    son    of    Benjamin    and    Esther 
Isaacs  Woolsey,  died  in  his  fifth  year. 

Their  daughter  Mary  married  the  Rev. 
Timothy  Dwight,  D.  D.,  President  of  Yale 
College.  She  died '  October  5,  1845,  ag"ed 
ninety-one  years.  President  Dwight  was  a 
son  of  Major  Timothy  Dwight  and  Mary, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  D. 
D.,  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
He  was  born  May  14,  1752,  and  died  January 
11,  1817.  Among  their  very  many  descend- 
ants are  the  Rev.  Edward  Strong  Dwight, 
Pastor  of  Hadley,  Massachusetts  ;  Benjamin 
Woolsey  Dwight,  M.  D.,  Treasurer  of  Ham- 
ilton College,  and  his  celebrated  sons,  Ben- 
jamin Woodbridge  Dwight,  Ph.  D.,  who  was 
graduated  at  Hamilton  College  in  1835,  the 
distinguished  teacher,  author  and  genealogist, 
and  Theodore  William  Dwight,  LL.  D.,  who 


nwiGHTS.  303 

was  graduated  at  Hamilton  College  in  1840, 
the  learned  and  eloquent  Professor  in  the 
Law  Department  of  Columbia  College,  New 
York  city ;  the  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  D.  D., 
who  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1849,  tne  Pro" 
fessor  of  Greek  Exegesis  in  the  Theological 
Department  of  Yale  College  and  one  of  the 
Revisers  of  the  New  Testament ;  the  Rev. 
Sereno  Edwards  Dwight,  I).  D.,  who  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  in  1803, married  in  1811,  Susan 
Edwards,  daughter  of  Judge  David  Daggett, 
of  New  Haven,  and  was  President  of  Hamil- 
ton College ;  the  Rev.  William  Theodore 
Dwight,  D.  D.,  who  was  graduated  at  Yale 
in  1813,  and  was  for  thirty-two  years  pastor 
of  the  Third  Congregational  Church  of  Port- 
land, Maine  ;  Henry  Edwin  Dwight,  M.  D., 
who  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1852,  a  promi- 
nent physician  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  Thomas 
Bradford  Dwight,  who  was  graduated  at  Yale 
in  1859,  a  lawyer  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Our  third  pastor's  son  Benjamin  had  seven 
children  by  his  second  wife.  Of  these  children, 
Esther,  born  at  Dosoris,  December  i,  1759, 
married  Capt.  Palmer  of  the  British  army 
and  died  at  Raphoe,  Ireland,  March  15,  1807. 
William  Walton  Woolsey,  son  of  Benjamin 


304  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Woolsey,  Jr.,  and  his  second  wife,  Ann  Muir- 
son,  was  born  September  17,  1766,  and  mar- 
ried April  2,  1792,  Elizabeth  Dwight,  sister 
of  President  Dwight  of  Yale  College,  whose 
wife,  Mary  Woolsey,  was  a  half  sister  of  Wil- 
liam Walton  Woolsey.  He  was  a  prosperous 
merchant  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and 
had  the  charge  of  many  trusts  and  filled  many 
public  offices.  He  had  seven  children,  and 
his  posterity  include  Mary  Anne  Woolsey, 
who  married  Jared  Scarborough,  a  graduate 
of  Yale  and  a  merchant  of  Hartford,  Connect- 
icut, whose  son  William  Woolsey  Scarbor- 
ough is  a  merchant  of  Cincinnati  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Bank  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  Jared 
Scarborough  died  in  1816  and  his  widow 
married  for  a  second  husband  the  Hon. 
George  Hoadley,  who  was  graduated  at  Yale, 
a  lawyer  of  New  Haven,  Mayor  of  the  City 
and  President  of  the  EaMe  Bank.  When  he 

<:> 

was  nearly  fifty  years  of  age  he  became  in 
1830  a  resident  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  be- 
came the  Mayor  thereof.  He  died  there  in 
1857,  aged  75  years.  Their  daughter,  Mary 
Ann  Hoadley,  married  Thomas  Fuller  Pome- 
roy,  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  and  a  phy- 
sician of  Detroit,  Michigan.  Another  daugh- 


HOAIM.EY. 

ter,  Elizabeth  Dwight  Hoadley,  married  the 
Hon.  Joshua  Hall  Bates,  a  graduate  of  West 
Point,  Lieutenant  in  the  U.  S.  Army  in  the 
Florida  war,  and  Brigadier  General  from  April 
to  August,  1 86 1,  in  the  war  against  the  Rebel- 
lion. Their  son  George  Hoadley  was  graduated 
at  the  Western  Reserve  College  in  1844,  a  ^aw" 
yer  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  twice  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Hamilton  County,  and 
since  1864  Professor  of  Commercial  Law  in 
the  Cincinnati  Law  School. 

Elizabeth  Woolscy,  daughter  of  W.  W. 
Woolsey  and  Elizabeth  Dwight,  married 
Francis  Bayard  Winthrop,  Jr.,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  and  a  lawyer  of  New  Haven,  Ct.  Their 
son,  Major  Theodore  Winthrop,  was  gradua- 
ted at  Yale,  an  author,  an  officer  in  the  late 
war,  and  killed  at  Big  Bethel,  Ya.,  June  10, 
1 86 1.  Their  son,  Major  William  Woolsey 
Winthrop,  was  graduated  at  Yale,  a  lawyer, 
and  Assistant  to  Judge  Advocate  Holt  in  the 
late  war.  Their  daughter,  Sarah  Chauncey 
Winthrop,  married  in  1861  Theodore  Weston, 
a  graduate  of  Yale,  a  civil  engineer  in  New 
York,  employed  on  the  Croton  Water  Works. 

John    Mumford    Woolsey,   son    of   W.    W. 
Woolsey  and  Elizabeth  Dwight,  was  gradua- 


306  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD, 

ted  at  Yale  in  1813,  married  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  John  Andrews  of  Wallingford,  Connecli- 
cutr  and  was  a  hardware  merchant  in  New 
York,  and  subsequently  a  capitalist  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  He  died  at  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, July  n,  1870,  aged  seventy-four 
years,  and  was  buried  at  Dosoris,  Long  Isl- 
and. His  daughter  Sarah  Chauncey  Woolsey 
is  the  popular  writer  known  as  "  Susan  Cool- 
idge,"  His  other  daughter,  Jane  Woolsey,  is 
the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Albert  Yardley,  a 
graduate  of  Yale,  tutor  there,  and  subsequent- 
ly Professor  in  the  Episcopal  Theological 
Seminary  at  Middletown,  Connecticut. 

William  Cecil  Woolsey,  twin  with  John 
Mumford  Woolsey,  was  graduated  in  the 
same  class  with  him  at  Yale  in  1813,  and  mar- 
ried in  1829  Catharine  Rebekah,  daughter  of 
Gen.  Theodorus  Bailey  of  New  York.  He 
was  an  auctioneer  in  New  York.  His  dau^h- 

tj 

ter  Ann  Eliza  married  Samuel  Fisher  Carm- 
alt,  a  large  land  owner  at  Lake  Wyalusing, 
Pa.  His  son  William  Walton  Woolsey,  M. 
D.,  studied  medicine  at  Yale  and  became  a 
physician  at  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

Laura  Woolsey,  daughter  of  Wm.  W. 
Woolsey,  married  Samuel  William  Johnson,  a 


PRES.    WOOLSEY.  307 

graduate  of  Union  College,  a  resident  of 
Stratford  Conn.  Her  son  Samuel  William 
Johnson  was  graduated  at  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  in  1849  an^  at  tne  I-aw  Department  of 
Harvard  College  in  1851.  Her  daughter 
Laura  Woolsey  Johnson  married  Dr.  William 
Henry  Carmalt,  a  brother  of  the  husband  of 
her  cousin  Ann  Eliza  Woolsey.  Her  son 
Woolsey  Johnson,  M.  D.,  was  graduated  at 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1860  and  at  the 
New  York  Medical  College  in  1863.  He  is 
a  physician  in  New  York  City. 

Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey,  D.  D.,  LL. 
D.,  son  of  W.  W.  Woolsey  and  Elizabeth 
Dwight,  was  born  October  31,  1801,  grad- 
uated at  Yale  in  1820  and  then  tutor  there 
three  years.  After  studying  theology  in 
Princeton  and  New  Haven,  he  gave  several 
years  to  study  and  travel  in  Europe  until 
1830.  The  next  year  he  became  the  Profes- 
sor of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature  in 
Yale  College  and  continued  in  this  Professor- 
ship twenty  years.  Eor  twenty-five  years  he 
was  President  of  Yale,  and  then  resigned  the 
Presidency,  but  continues  to  give  instruction 
in  three  of  the  departments  of  the  college. 
He  is  a  voluminous  author,  President  ot  the 


308  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Evangelical  Alliance,  and  President  of  the 
New  Testament  Revisers  of  the  Bible.  His 
daughter  Agnes  is  the  wife  of  the  Rev,  Ed- 
gar Laing  Heermance,  Pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  White  Plains,  New  York, 
who  is  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Heermance 
of  Kinderhook,  New  York.  President  Wool- 
sey's  son,  Theodore  Salisbuiy  Woolsey,  LL. 
B.,  is  Professor  of  International  Law  in  Yale 
College. 

President  Woolsey's  sister  Sarah  married 
Charles  Frederick  Johnson,  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, an  amateur  farmer  by  occupation, 
at  Owego,  New  York.  Their  eldest  son, 
Charles  Frederick,  was  graduated  at  Yale  in 
1855,  was  assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics 
in  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy  from  1865  to 
1870,  and  is  the  Superintendent  of  the  Bristol 
Iron  Works,  Owego,  New  York.  He  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  the  Hon.  William  J.  Me 
Alpine,  of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts. 

The  second  son  of  Charles  Frederick  and 
Sarah  Woolsey  Johnson  is  William  Woolsey 
Johnson,  who  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1862, 
Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  U. 
S.  Naval  Academy  from  1864  to  1869,  then 
Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Kenyon  College, 


DUNLAP,    HOWLAND.  309 

Gambler,  Ohio,  and  since  1872  Professor  of 
Mathematics  in  St.  John's  College,  Annapolis, 
Maryland. 

Elizabeth  Woolsey,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Woolsey,  Jr.,  and  Ann  Muirson  married  Wil- 
liam Dunlap,  who  bore  the  colors  of  the  47th 
Regiment,  "  Wolfe's  Own,"  on  the  Plains  of 
Abraham,  when  Wolfe  gained  the  great  victory 
and  died.  William  Dunlap  was  a  voluminous 
author,  and  among  his  books  are  a  Biography 
of  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  The  Arts  of  De- 
sign in  the  United  States,  and  The  History  of 
the  New  Netherlands.  He  was  a  pupil  of 
Benjamin  West,  and  is  best  known  as  a  painter. 

Our  third  pastor's  grandson,  George  Muir- 
son \Voolsey,  son  of  Benjamin,  married  Abby, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Howland.  He  was  large- 
ly engaged  in  shipping  in  New  York,  owned 
Green  Hook,  Long  Island,  and  died  at  his 
country-seat  in  Newtown,  Long  Island.  His 
son  Charles  William  Wroolsey  perished  in  the 
Lexington  on  Lono-  Island  Sound,  January 

o  .o  J  ^ 

13,  1840,  leaving  a  widow  and  eight  children, 
the  eldest  twelve  years  old.  His  daughter 
Mary  Elizabeth  Watts  is  the  wife  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Robert  S.  Howland,  Rector  of  the  Church 
of  the  Heavenly  Rest,  Fifth  Avenue,  New 


S1^  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

York.     His  daughter  Georgiana  Muirson    is 
the  wife  of  Francis  Bacon,  who  was  graduated 
.  M.  D.  at  Yale,  and  is  the  Professor  of  Sur- 
gery in  that  College — a  son  of  the  Rev.  Leon- 
ard Bacon,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D.  Charles  Wm.  Wool- 
sey's   daughter    Eliza    Newton    married    Col- 
Joseph    Rowland,    an    author    and    amateur 
farmer  at   Matteawan,  New  York.     Another 
daughter  of  the  same  family,  Harriet  Roose- 
velt, married  Dr.    Hugh  Lenox  Dodge,  L.L. 
D.,  Professor  in  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania — the  brother 
of   the  Rev.    Charles  Dodge  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
Another  daughter,  Caroline  Carson,  married 
Edward    Mitchell,    a   graduate    of    Columbia 
College,  a  lawyer  of  New  York,  son  of  Judge 
William    Mitchell    of   that    city.     The  son  of 
Charles  William  Woolsey,  Col.  Charles  Wil- 
liam   Woolsey,    married    Arixene    Southgate 
Smith,  eldest   daughter  of  Henry   B.   Smith, 
D.  D.,   LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in    the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  City, 
one   of  the   foremost   of   American   scholars, 
thinkers,  authors,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  Lee, 
his  biographer,  daughter  of  William  Allen,  D. 
D.,     President    of    Bowdoin     College.       Col. 


WOOLSEYS.  3  I  I 

Woolsey  is  a  gentleman  farmer  at  Briar  Cliff, 
near  Sing  Sing,  New  York. 

Our  third  pastor's  grandson  George  Muir- 
son  Woolsey  had  a  son,  Edward  John  Wool- 
sey, who  married  Emily  Phillips  Aspinwall, 
sister  of  William  H.  Aspinwall  and  John 
Lloyd  Aspinwall,  New  York,  and  who  died  at 
Astoria,  Long  Island,  June  30,  1873,  aged  71 
years,  leaving  to  his  son  Edward  John  Wool- 
sey, Jr.,  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  his 
real  estate  in  Newtown,  Long  Island,  with 
the  furniture,  books,  pi6lures,  wines,  crops 
and  farm  utensils  and  stock,  and  a  farm  and 
island  adjoining,  with  other  property ;  and  to 
his  wife  all  the  rest  of  his  real  and  personal 
estate,  including  a  country  seat  at  Lenox, 
Massachusetts,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  State. 

Our  third  Pastor's  second  daughter,  Hannah, 
married  Samuel  McCoun  of  Oyster  Bay, 
Long  Island. 

The  third  daughter,  Mary,  married,  first, 
Platt  Smith,  and,  after  his  death,  Dr.  George 
Muirson  of  Setauket,  Long  Island. 

The  fourth  daughter,  Abigail,  married  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Noah  Welles,  a  celebrated  divine  and 
author,  the  rector  of  the  church  of  Stamford, 
Connecticut. 


312  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

But  two  of  Pastor  Woolsey's  children  who 
married  were  sons.  Most  of  his  descendants 
are  in  the  feminine  branches  of  the  family, 
and  these  are  perhaps  not  less  eminent  and 
fruitful  than  the  male  branches. 

Among  the  distinguished  names  in  these 
branches  are  those  of  Lt.  Gov.  John  Broome  ; 
Dr.  James  Cogswell ;  Chancellor  William  T. 
McCoun ;  Hon.  Samuel  McCoun  ;  Rear-Ad- 
miral Samuel  Livingston  Breese,  U.  S.  Navy ; 
Hon.  Sidney  Breese,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Illinois,  U.  S.  Senator;  Sarah 
Elizabeth  Griswold,  wife  of  Samuel  Finley 
Breese  Morse,  LL.  D.,  inventor  of  the  tele- 
graph ;  Susan  Breese,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Pierre  Alexis  Proal ;  Arthur  Breese,  U.  S. 
Navy;  Hon.  Peter  W.  Radcliff;  Mary  \Yelles 
Davenport,  wife  of  James  Boorman  of  New 
York ;  Rev.  John  Sidney  Davenport ;  Julia 
Davenport  Wheeler,  wife  of  Selah  Brewster 
Strong,  Esq.,  of  St.  George's  Manor,  Setau- 
ket,  L.  I. ;  Rev.  James  Radcliff  Davenport ; 
Dr.  Benjamin  Welles;  Rev.  Benjamin  Welles  ; 
George  Welles  McClure,  U.  S.  Army  ;  Henry 
Welles,  twenty-one  years  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  York  ;  Sarah  Haight  Welles, 
wife  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Johnson,  Judge 


WOOLSEY    KIN.  3  I  3 

of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York ;  Mary 
Eliza  and  Helen  Lyclia  Welles,  successively 
wives  of  William  Johnson,  President  of  the 
New  Haven  City  Bank  and  of  the  New  Ha- 
ven and  Northampton  Railroad;  Abigail 
Woolsey  Welles,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
Gilbert  Ludlow,  and  mother  of  the  well  known 
authors,  Fitzhugh  and  Helen  Welles  Ludlow. 

After  the  removal  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Woolsey  to  Dosoris,  the  church  of  Southold 
was  destitute  of  a  pastor  for  two  years ;  but 
on  the  26th  of  October,  1738,  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal council  ordained  and  installed  the  Rev. 
James  Davenport  as  its  Pastor. 

His  great-grandfather  had  been  a  celebrat- 
ed minister  in  London,  England,  and  also  in 
Holland,  was  the  chief  founder  of  the  City 
and  the  Colony  of  New  Haven,  where  he  was 
the  first  Minister  of  the  Church.  After  the 
New  Haven  Colony  became  identified  with 
that  of  Connecticut,  under  the  charter  of  the 
latter,  a  union  which  he  had  most  strenuously 
resisted  on  behalf  of  the  New  Haven  Colony, 
and  which  was  very  unsatisfactory  to  himself- 
he  accepted  a  call  to  be  the  Pastor  of  the 
First  Church  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in 
which  office  he  died.  He  was  one  of  the 
.27 


3H  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

greatest,  best  and  most  influential  men  in  the 
early  history  of  New  England. 

The  father  of  our  fourth  Pastor  was  the- 
Rev.  John  Davenport,  who  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1687  an<^  ordained  and 
installed  the  Pastor  of  Stamford,  Connecticut, 
in  1694,  and  died  in  this  office  on  the  fifth  of 
February,  1731,  aged  sixty-one  years,  having 
been  an  eminently  faithful  and  useful  minis- 
ter, and  so  familiar  with  the  original  languages 
of  the  Bible  that  he  was  accustomed  to  use 
them,  and  not  a  translation  into  English,  in. 
his  family  worship. 

His  son  James  was  born  in  Stamford,  when 
his  father  had  become  forty  years  of  age,  in 
1710,  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1732, 
second  in  social  position  in  a  class  of  twenty- 
three,  of  whom  nine  became  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  During  three  years  of  his  College 
course,  two  Southold  men  pursued  their  stud- 
ies with  him  in  Yale,  namely,  Simon  Horton 
and  Abner  Reeve,  who  were  graduated  one 
year  preceding  him.  Though  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  graduation, 
he  continued  to  reside  in  New  Haven  for  sev- 
eral years  thereafter,  and  during  this  period 
he  pursued  his  preparation  for  the  gospel 


DAVENPORT.  3  I  5- 

ministry  with  so  much  ardor  and  devotion 
that  his  health  was  greatly  impaired.  He  put 
himself  under  the  medical  treatment  of  Dr. 
Hubbard  of  that  city,  but  this  physician's 
skill  seeming-  to  be  inadequate  to  the  case,  he 
went  to  Killingworth,  Connecticut,  and  be- 
came a  member  of  the  family  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Jared  Eliot — justly  celebrated  both  as  a  phy- 
sician and  a  minister — in  order  that  he  might 
have  the  benefit  of  his  medical  knowledge 
and  prescriptions.  In  this  way,  after  a  few 
months,  he  so  far  recovered  his  health  that  he 
was  able  to  return  to  New  Haven  and  resume 
his  studies.  But  this  early  breaking  down  of 
his  health  prepared  the  way  for  subsequent 
ailments  and  diseases  which  greatly  affected 
both  his  body  and  his  mind,  and  caused  most 
unhappy  and  painful  consequences  to  himself 
and  to  others  during  the  later  years  of  his 
pastoral  relation  to  the  Church  of  Southold, 
from  which  he  was  not  released  until  1744. 
Throughout  the  two  earlier  years  of  his  min- 
istry here,  there  was  little  departure  from  the 
orderly  and  faithful  attention  to  his  pastoral 
duties  and  little  want  of  the  satisfactory  per- 
formance thereof;  for  in  these  earlier  years 
there  was  no  serious  failure  of  his  health — no 


316  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOI.t). 

prostration  of  his  reason  and  judgment  by 
overpowering  mental  and  physical  maladies. 
When  the  first  century  of  the  History  of 
Southold  closed,  in  1 740,  he  had  not  become 
deeply  involved  in  those  erratic  and  irrational 
proceedings  for  which  he  has  been  severely  re- 
proached, and  somewhat  unjustly  blamed,  be- 
cause sufficient  allowance  has  not  been  gen- 
erally made  for  the  effects  of  the  diseases 
from  which  he  was  suffering  in  mind  and  body, 
and  which  rendered  him  in  the  just  judgment 
of  the  Civil  Court  of  Boston  non  compos  mentis, 
and  therefore  not  guilty,  even  though  it  was 
evident  that  he  had,  in  the  denunciation  of 
good  men,  committed  offences  which  a  per- 
son of  sound  mind  could  not  have  committed 
without  making  himself  worthy  of  condemna- 
tion and  liable  to  punishment. 

In  the  spring  of  1738  his  ministry  was  de- 
sired at  Maidenhead  and  Hopewell,  now  Law- 
renceville  and  Pennington,  New  Jersey,  and 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  wrote  to  him 
in  behalf  of  those  congregations  ;  but,  as  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Sprague  says  in  his  "  Annals  of  the 
American  Pulpit,"  Vol.  3,  p.  81,  "he  received 
a  call  from  Southold,  Long  Island,  about  the 
same  time,  to  which  he  gave  the  preference. 


FOURTH  PASTOR'S  ORDINATION.         317 

Southold  was  the  oldest  town  on  the  Island, 
and  had  been  left  vacant,  in  1736,  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Woolsey.  His 
ordination  took  place  on  the  26th  of  Oclober, 
1738.  Among  the  ministers  composing  the 
council  was  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  (after- 
wards Dr.)  Stephen  Williams  of  Longmead- 
ow." 

The  Rev.  Richard  Webster,  in  his  "  Histo- 
ry of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America," 
makes  essentially  the  same  statements  re- 
specting Mr.  Davenport,  thus :  "  He  seems 
to  have  preached  in  New  Jersey  in  the  close 
of  1/37;  for  Philadelphia  Presbytery  gave 
leave,  March  12,  1738,  to  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell,  (Lawrence  and  Pennington,)  to 
send  for  him,  and  also  wrote  a  letter  for  them 
to  him.  He  preferred  to  settle  at  Southold, 
the  oldest  town  on  Long  Island,  left  vacant 
in  1736  by  the  removal  of  Mr.  Woolsey,  and 
was  ordained  by  a  council,  Ocl.  26th,  1738." 

The  remarkable  career  of  this  famous  man 
in  the  later  years  of  his  pastoral  relation  to 
the  First  Church  of  Southold,  is  worthy  of 
full  and  careful  narration  ;  but  the  narrative 
does  not  properly  belong  to  the  history  ot  the 
First  Century  of  this  place,  and  must  wait  for 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD, 

another  volume.  It  will  for  the  present  suf- 
fice to  add,  that  his  wayward  and  turbulent 
course  continued  as  long  as  he  was  under  the 
control  of  those  maladies,  which  made  him,  in 
the  judgment  of  good  sense  and  charitable 
construction,  not  responsible  for  his  enthusi- 
asm, bitterness,  fanatical  errors  and  unjust 
denunciations  of  good  men,  in  all  of  which  he 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Whitefield,  but 
not  with  equal  rashness  and  culpability. 

The  latest  years  of  his  life  were  marked  by 
humility  of  heart,  sweetness  of  disposition, 
and  a  becoming  sobriety  of  temper  and  judg- 
ment. And  it  should  not  be  overlooked,  that 
these  latest  years  were  devoted  to  the  spirit- 
ual welfare  of  "  the  people  of  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell "  in  the  very  place  where  his  servi- 
ces were  desired  twenty  years  before  the  date 
of  his  death  and  just  before  his  settlement  in 
Southold.  He  died  while  he  was  the  pastor 
of  the  New  Side  Presbyterian  church  of  Hope- 
well,  whose  house  of  worship  stood  about  a 
mile  west  oi  Pennington.  He  was  buried  in 
the  cemetery  which  marks  the  site  where  this 
church  edifice,  now  gone,  formerly  stood. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  May,  1877,  I  visited 
this   hallowed  ground.      By   the    kindness    of 


NEW    SmK    (JRAVK    YARD.  3  I- 9 

the  Rev  George  Hale,  D.  D.,  former  Pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Penning- 
ton  and  now  Secretary  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly's Board   of   Ministerial    Relief,  I  became 
the  guest  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  R.  Foster,  the 
present  Pastor  of  that  church,  whose  abund- 
ant  hospitality   included  a  drive   in   his  com- 
fortable carriage  to  this  old  cemetery  of  the 
"New  Side"  Presbyterians  of  the  neighbor- 
hood in  Colonial   times.     The   day  was  warm 
for  the  month  of  May,  the  temperature  being 
90"  in  the  shade.     The  cemetery  fronts  towards 
the   south   or   southwest.     There   is  a  bluff  a 
few    feet    high    between    it    and  the  carriage 
way  in  the  public  road  that  passes  by  it.     On 
the  same  general  level  with  the  top  of  this 
low   bluff  is   the   greater  part  of  the  burying 
ground,     which     slopes    down     very     gently 
towards   the   east.      In    front  of  the  cemetery 
is  a  substantial  wall  as  high  as  a  man's  waist, 
and  distant  perhaps  two  rods  from  the  edge 
of  the   bluff  at   the    side   of  the  road.     This 
space    of   ground    between    the  edge  of   the 
bluff  and   the   wall,  and  extending  the  whole 
length  of  the  cemetery,  is  beautifully  covered 
with  natural  sward,  in  which  grow  a  few  large 
and  noble  trees — a  maple,  two  or  three  white 


HISTORY  OF  sotm-ioi.r). 

oaks  and  as  many  black  walnuts.  The  effects 
of  age  and  of  storms  can  be  seen  upon  the 
maple.  There  are  also  a  few  fine  trees  with- 
in the  sacred  grounds.  North  or  north-west 
of  Mr.  Davenport's  grave — a  rod  distant  from 
its  side — is  a  magnificent  elm.  Another 
somewhat  more  remote  from  the  foot  of  the 
tomb  lifts  its  noble  form  high  into  the  air. 
The  marble  over  the  grave  is  a  large  horizon- 
tal slab,  and  the  inscription  is  carefully  and 
neatly  cut.  The  marble  rests  on  a  substruct- 
ure of  brick-work,  in  which  a  few  of  the  bricks 
at  the  head  of  the  grave  have  become  dis- 
placed. 

On  the  south  of  the  grave  is  that  of  Mrs. 
Davenport,  marked  with  a  vertical  stone  at 
the  head,  which  is  towards  the  west,  and  the 
inscription  is  on  the  west  face  of  the  stone. 
The  lettering  is  neat  and  legible. 

The  land  on  every  side  for  a  mile  away  is 
fertile  and  well  cultivated.  Many  single  trees 
stand  here  and  there  in  fields,  or  along  the 
lines  of  fences  ;  enough  to  give  to  the  scene 
in  a  warm  day  the  aspec~l  of  retirement,  fresh- 
ness and  repose.  The  effect  is  heightened 
by  the  circumstance,  that  but  tew  dwellings  or 


DAVENPORT    INSCRIPTIONS.  321 

other  buildings  stand  nearer  than  half  a  mile 
from  the  cemetery. 

The  inscriptions  are  as  follows: 

IN     MEMORY      OF 

THE  REVD.  JAMES  DAVENPORT 

WHO    DEPARTED    THIS     I.IFF. 

NOVR.     1  OTH     1757, 

AGED  40    YFARS. 

Oh  Davenport,  a  Seraph  once  in  Clay, 

A  brighter  Seraph  now  in  heavenly  Day, 

How  glow'd  thy  Heart,  with  sacred  Love  and  zeal  ! 

How  like  to  that  thy  kindred  Angels  feel  ! 

Cloth'd  in  Humility,  thy  Virtues  shone, 

In  every  eye  illustrious  but  thine  own. 

How  like  thy  Master,  on  whose  friendly  Breast 

Thou  oft  hast  lean'd,  and  shalt  forever  rest  ! 

IN 

IN   MEMORY    OF 
PARNEL     WIFK     OF 

THE  REVD 

JAMES    DAVENPORT 

WHO    DEPARTED    THIS  I.IFF 

AUGUST     2  1ST.   1  789 

AGED    60   YEARS. 

Mr.  Davenport  had  one  son,  John,  who 
was  born  at  Philippi,  New  Jersey,  August  i  i , 
1752,  graduated  at  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey in  1769,  being  a  classmate  with  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Matthias  Burnett,  Gov.  John  Henry  of 
Maryland,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Stanhope 


322  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Smith,  President  of  the  College.  He  studied 
for  the  ministry  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph 
Bellamy,  of  Bethlehem,  Connecticut,  and  also 
under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Buell,  of  Easthamp- 
ton,  Long  Island.  In  his  early  life  he  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  Aaron  Burr,  and  while 
pursuing  his  theological  studies  under  Dr- 
Buell,  he  wrote  to  Burr,  who  was  residing 
with  Dr.  Bellamy,  and  made  known  his  desire, 
that  this  ambitious  man  would  give  himself  to 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel.  He  said  :  "I 
hope  you  are  by  this  time  fully  resolved  to 
engage  in  the  sacred  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  that  you  see  your  way  clear  to  do  it. 
You  are  placed  under  a  very  judicious  as  well 
as  pious  divine,  whose  instruction  and  con- 
versation have,  I  hope,  proved  to  your  spirit- 
ual benefit.  I  rejoice  to  find  you  are  pleased 
with  your  situation,  and  wish  it  may  continue." 
John  Davenport  was  ordained  at  Easthamp- 
ton,  Long  Island,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Suf- 
folk County,  on  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1774. 
The  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Storrs,  Ebenezer  Prime, 
Samuel  Buell,  James  Brown,  Joshua  Hart  and 
David  Rose  took  part  in  the  service.  He  re- 
mained in  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  County 
until  April  12,  i  786,  when  he  was  dismissed 


CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  32} 

to  accept  a  call  to  be  the  Pastor  of  the  church 
at  Bedford,  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
While  he  remained  on  the  Island  he  minister- 
ed chiefly  at  Mattituck.  After  his  ministry  at 
Bedford,  he  was  installed  as  the  Pastor  of  the 
church  in  Deerfield,  Cumberland  County, 
New  Jersey,  August  12,  1795,  and  was  releas- 
ed on  account  of  ill  health  in  Oclober,  1805. 
He  returned  to  the  State  of  New  York  in 
1809,  and  died  at  Lysander,  Onondaga  Coun- 
ty, July  13,  1821,  in  the  6gth  year  of  his  age. 
He  had  a  sister  older  than  himself.  Her 
name  was  Elizabeth.  She  married  Mr.  Enos 
Kelsey,  a  merchant  oi  Princeton,  New  Jersey, 
where  they  lived  and  died.  Their  graves  are 
in  the  Princeton  cemetery. 

Throughout  the  later  periods  of  the  First 
Century  of  Southold  the  civil  government  was 
orderly  and  peaceful.  The  royal  province, 
after  the  departure  of  Cornbury,  was  under 
the  administrations  of  Gov.  John  Lovelace, 
1708-1710;  Gov.  Robert  Hunter,  1710-1719; 
Gov.  William  Burnet,  i  720-1  727  ;  Gov.  John 
Montgomerie,  1728-1731  ;  Gov.  William  Cos- 
by, 1732-1736;  Lieut.  Gov.  George  Clarke, 
1736-1743.  The  members  ol  the  Assembly 
from  Suffolk  were  William  Nicholl,  1701- 


J24  HISTORY    OF    SOUTMOLD. 


1723,  Speaker,  in  1702-1716;  Samuel  Mul- 
ford,  1705-1720;  Samuel  Hutchinson,  1721- 
1737;  Epenetus  Platt,  1723-1739. 


Autograph  of  Samuel  Hutchinson  in  1721. 

For  the  county  administration  in  this  pe- 
riod the  County  Judges  were  successively  Jo- 
seph Fordham,  who  succeeded  our  Isaac  Ar- 
nold, and  Henry  Smith.  The  Surrogates,  Jo- 
seph Fordham,  Jekamiah  Scott,  Brindley  Syl- 
vester and  Henry  Smith.  The  Sheriffs  were 
Richard  Floyd,  1 708,  John  Brush,  Daniel  Sayre, 
Joshua  Horton,  Joseph  Wickham,  Dame] 
Youngs,  Samuel  Dayton,  William  Sell,  Joseph 
Smith,  David  Corey,  Jacob  Conklin,  and  in 
1 740,  Thomas  Higbie.  The  County  Clerks 
were  Andrew  Gibb,  C.  Congreve,  Samuel 
Hudson  and  William  Smith.  In  this  period 
Shelter  Island  became  detached  from  South- 
old  in  the  civil  administration  of  Town  affairs. 
It  had  hitherto  been  a  part  of  the  Town  of 
Southold  in  political  organization  as  well  as 


SUKLTKR    ISLAND.  ^25 

in  church  relations.  But  in  1730  it  was  erect- 
ed into  a  separate  corporation,  having  at  that 
time  twenty  men  who  were  of  full  age,  namely  : 
Joel  Bowditch,  John  Bowditch,  Daniel  Brown, 
Thomas  Conklin,  Edward  Oilman,  Edward 
Havens,  George  Havens,  Henry  Havens, 
John  Havens,  Jonathan  Havens,  Joseph  Hav- 
ens, Samuel  Hopkins,  Samuel  Hudson,  Syl- 
vester L'Hommedieu,  William  Nicholl,  Abra- 
ham Parker,  Elisha  Paine,  Brindley  Sylvester, 
Noah  Tuthill  and  Samuel  Vail.  Some  of 
these  persons,  especially  William  Nicholl  and 
Brindley  Sylvester,  like  wealthy  men  on  all 
parts  of  Long  Island,  owned  many  negro 
slaves.  Their  first  Town  Meeting  was  held 
April  7,  1730,  and  William  Nicholl  was  chos- 
en Supervisor ;  John  Havens  and  Samuel 
Hudson,  Assessors  ;  Edward  Havens,  Collecl- 
or ;  and  Edward  Oilman,  Clerk. 

In  1733  they  built  a  church  edifice  with  a 
view  to  the  uses  of  the  Town  and  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Presbyterian  Church.  The  congre- 
gation was  incorporated  under  the  law  of  the 
State  on  the  26th of  April,  1785,  when  John  N. 
Havens,  Sylvester  Deering  and  William  Bow- 
ditch  were  elecled  Trustees  ;  but  the  church 
was  not  fully  organized  until  1808.  Brindley 
28 


326  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Sylvester,  son   of  Nathaniel  Sylvester,  was  a 
grandson  of  that  Nathaniel  Sylvester,  who  in 
1674  became  the  owner  of  the  whole  of  Shel- 
ter Island.     This  Brindley  Sylvester  maintain- 
ed his  own  private  Chaplain,  the   Licentiate 
William  Adams,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Eliphalet 
Adams,  of  New  London.    But  Mr.  Sylvester's 
church    membership    was    in    the    Southold 
church  and   here    he    worshipped    habitually, 
and  his  family  also,  every  Sabbath  day.      His 
boat  was  rowed  for  this  purpose  by  four  men 
or  by  six  men  according  to  the  condition  of 
wind,  tide  and  weather.     On  the  death  of  Mr. 
Sylvester,  whose    funeral    was  conducted  by 
the  Rev.  William  Throop,  Pastor  of  Southold. 
and  the  sermon  printed  in  Boston,  the  Licen- 
tiate   William    Adams    became    in    1752    the 
Chaplain  of  Thomas  Deering,  son-in-law  of 
Mr.  Sylvester.     It  was  in    1737  that  Mr.  Syl- 
vester erecled  his  dwelling,  which  is  now  the 
summer  residence  of  Prof.  Eben  N.  Horsford, 
Mrs.  Horsford,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Samuel 
S.  Gardiner,  Esq.,  being  an  heir  through  the 
Havens  and  the   L'Hommedieu    families.      It 
was  in  part   built  of  materials  imported  from 
England  and  used  in  the  construction  of   his 
grandfather's  residence    in    1670.       In    1695 


SUPERVISORS.  327 

Brindley  Sylvester's  uncle  Giles  Sylvester 
sold  one  fourth  of"  the  Island  to  William 
Nicholl  for  ,£500,  and  by  will  in  1720  he 
gave  him  another  quarter  of  it.  In  1695, 
also,  Brindley  Sylvester's  father  sold  one 
thousand  acres  in  the  centre  of  the  Island 
to  George  Havens,  a  Welshman. 

This  separation  of  Shelter  Island  from 
Southold  in  its  political  organization  was  the 
chief  event  in  the  civil  affairs  of  the  old  Town 
in  the  later  periods  of  its  First  Century. 

From  1694  until  the  present  day  the  prin- 
cipal civil  officer  of  the  Town  has  been  the 
Supervisor.  During  the  first  half  of  the  last 
century  this  office  was  filled  successively  by 
John  Tuthill,  Benjamin  Youngs,  Thomas 
Mapes,  James  Reeve,  Samuel  Hutchinson, 
Samuel  Beebe,  James  Fanning,  Thomas 
Reeve,  Joshua  Youngs,  and  Samuel  Landon  ; 
by  the  latter  from  1739  to  1752. 

In  these  orderly  and  peaceful  times,  the 
people  were  virtuous,  diligent  and  prosperous, 
increasing  in  number,  intelligence  and  wealth. 
They  well  maintained  the  good  character  of 
the  Church  and  Town. 


INDEX, 


Adams,  William,  the  chaplain  of  Brindley  Sylvester,  326. 

Akerly,  Robert, 'came  early  to  Southold,  32,  45  ;  removed 
to  Brook  Haven,  50. 

Allerton,  Isaac,  252. 

Ames,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  widow  and  children  of,  in  Salem 
and  lands  there  voted  them,  24;  his  life  and  char- 
acter, 250,  251. 

Andros,  Major  Edmund,  thanked  by  the  Duke  of  York 
for  compelling  the  East  End  to  submit  to  his  gov- 
ernment, 194. 

Aquebogue,  purchase  from  the  Indians  of,  202. 

Arnold,  Isaac,  born  about  1640  and  died  in  1706,  a  chief 
man  of  Southold  in  the  second  generation,  34;  here 
before  the  death  of  the  first  pastor,  45;  a  merchant, 
ship-owner,  patentee  of  the  town,  judge  of  the  coun- 
ty, judge  of  Leisler,  86  ;  slave-owner,  87  ;  site  of  his 
house,  86,  87  ;  appointed  in  1673  schout  of  the  east 
end  towns,  149;  declined  the  ollice,  157;  authorized 
to  have  a  pew  in  the  Meeting  House,  212. 

Autograph  of  Benjamin  Youngs,  192;  of  William  Wells, 
198;  of  Benjamin  Woolsey.  259;  of  Samuel  Hutch- 
inson,  324. 

Bacon,    Rev.   Dr.    Leonard,  "Historical    Discourses"  of, 

56  ;  quotation  from  his  pen,  57. 
Baker,  Thomas,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  45  ;  removed 

to  Easthampton,  49. 
Bancroft,  George,  testimony  of,  to  the  Puritans,  65. 


33O  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

Banisters  of  the  Meeting  House  gallery,  bill  for,  233. 

Baptism  basin,  bill  for  tending  with,  233. 

Barbadoes,  trade  of  Southold  with,  94. 

Barberini,  popedom  of,  73. 

Barrow,  Isaac,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of  South- 
old,  76. 

Baskingridge,  N.  J.,  278,  279. 

Baxter,  Richard,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  76  ;  published  his  Theology  in  the  year  of 
the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart's  ordination,  196. 

Bayley,  John,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  removed  to 
Jamaica,  first  of  the  patentees  and  of  the  purchasers 
of  the  Indian  title  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  28,  45,  51. 

Bellamont,  Lord,  Governor  of  New  York,  237. 

Bellamy,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  266. 

Bellarmine,  Cardinal,  251. 

Benedict,  Henry  M.,  author  of  the  "  Benedict  Genealogy," 

Si- 

Benedict,  Thomas,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  45  ;  his 
nine  children  born  here,  removed  to  Jamaica  and 
then  to  Norwalk,  Ct.,  51. 

Benjamin,  Richard,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  grave- 
digger,  site  of  his  house,  85  ;  freed  from  training, 
etc.,  197. 

Benjamin,  Simeon,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  45. 

Biblical  code,  advantages  of,  98-100. 

Blue  Laws  of  Connecticut,  an  imaginary  code,  62. 

Board  of  Church  Trustees  in  Southold,  first  elected,  230. 

Bochart,  Samuel,  75. 

Bonsly,  Rev.  W.  T.,  Diocesan  Registrar  of  Norwich, 
letter  of,  21. 

Booth,  John,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  45. 

Boundary  Commissioners  merge  New  Haven  in  Con- 
necticut, 68,  69;  private  instructions  to,  no. 

Boundaries  between  Southold  and  Southampton  ad- 
justed, 94. 

Bowne,  John,  described  by  Capt.  John  Underbill,  50; 
married  Hannah  Feke,  51. 

Brainerd,  Rev.  Messrs.  David  and  John,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Thomas,  267. 

Branford,  people  of,  removed  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  69. 

Brazil  in  1640  acquired  by  the  Netherlands,  73. 

Brewster,  Rev.  James  F.,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  Chester,  N.  J.,  quotation  from,  273. 


INDEX.  331 

British  troops  in  Southold  during  the  war  of  Independ- 
ence, 243. 

Brook  Haven  submitted  to  the  Dutch,  152. 

Brown,  Richard,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  45. 

Brown,  Richard,  Jr.,  an  early  settler,  45. 

Budd,  John,  sketch  of,  34,  35,  45  ;  site  of  his  Southold 
home,  84. 

Bunyan,  John,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  74;  published  in  1678  the  Pilgrim's  Pro- 
gress, 196. 

Burr,  Rev.  Aaron,  262. 

Burr,  Aaron,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  262. 

Byles,  Rev.  Dr.  Mather,  author  of  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart's 
epitaph,  243,  244. 

Calves'  Neck,  allotment  of,  90,  91. 

Carpenter,  Richard,  residence  of,  198. 

Carroll,  Col.  Thomas,  residence  of,  85. 

Carwithe,  David,  an  early  settler,  45. 

Case,  Albertson,  Esq.,   quotation    from    his  "  Historical 

Sketch  of  Southold,"  83,  84. 

Case,  Henry,  an  early  settler,  45  ;  site  of  his  home-lot,  85. 
Case,  J.Wickham,   built  the  residence  now  on  Charles 

Glover's  original  home-lot,  85. 
Cemetery  of  the  First  Church,  123. 
Changes  and  war,  129. 

Changes  of  the  Southold  tax  lists  in  eight  years,  221,  222. 
Chapter  I.,  17-78;  II.,  81-126  ;  III.,  129-164';  IV.,  167-187  ; 

V.,  191-245;  VI.,  249-282;   VII.,  285-327. 
Charles  II.  desired   to  oppress  the  Puritans  in  America, 

1 10  ;  his  character,  1 1 1  ;  his  death,  161. 
Chester,  N.  J.,  migration  to  and  sketch  of,  272-277. 
Cheston,  Roger,  an  early  settler,  45. 
Chief  Concern  of  the  east  end  towns,  148. 
Children  bequeathed,  94. 
Chillingworth,  William,  contemporary  with  the  founders 

of  Southold,  74. 

Church  ceased  to  be  a  Town  church  and  became  an  In- 
dependent church,  281. 
Church  edifice,  first  in  Southold,  where  built,  57  ;  second, 

third,  fourth,  217. 
Church  goers  in  cold  weather,  281. 
Clarendon,  Earl  of,  contemporary  with  the  founders  ol 

Southold,  76;  father  of  Lord  Cornbury,  235. 


33  2  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Clark,  Richard,  an  early  settler,  45. 

Clarke,  Samuel,  bill  of,  for  building  the  Meeting  House' 

gallery,  233. 

Clerks  of  the  county,  324. 
Cleveland,  Benjamin,  Genealogy  of,  122. 
Cleveland,  Deacon  Moses  C.,  residence  of,  198. 
Code,  Biblical,  knowledge  of,  in  Southold,  99. 
Coe,  Judge  Benjamin,  264,  265. 
Coke,  Sir  Edward,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 

Southold,  74. 

Colbert,  statesman  of  France,  195. 
Colve,  Capt.  Anthony,  Governor  of  New  York,  character 

and  administration  of,  141  ;  his  authority  declined  by 

the  East  End,  141,  142;  letter  of,  to  the  Governor  of 

Connecticut,  160. 

Commerce  in  the  early  years  of  Southold,  77. 
Commissioners  of  Emigration,  18,  19. 
Commissioners  of  the  Dutch  visit  the  East  End,  i  58  ;  and 

return  to  New  York,  159. 

Common  and  undivided  lands,  laws  relating  to,  209-211. 
Commoners'  incorporation,  209,  210. 
Conklin,  David  T. ,  residence  of,  east  of  Capt.  John   LTn- 

derhill's  original  home-lot,  85. 
Conklin,  Jacob  and  Samuel,  bills  of,  for  Meeting  House 

banisters,  233. 

Conklin,  Jacob,  an  early  settler,  45, 
Conklin,  John,  an  early  settler,  removed  to  Huntington, 

33-  45- 

Conklin,  John,  Jr.,  an  early  settler,  45  ;  tomb-stone  of, 
122. 

Connecticut,  boundaries  of,  extended  over  the  New  Haven 
Colony,  68;  charter  of,  130;  appointed  its  Governor 
and  Capt.  John  Youngs  of  Southold  to  settle  the 
English  Plantations  on  Long  Island,  but  soon  dis- 
claimed these  towns,  131-133. 

Convenience  houses,  281,  282. 

Cooper.  John,  an  early  settler  of  Southampton,  31  ;  in 
Southold  warns  the  Dutch,  157,  158. 

Cooper,  Thomas,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  45. 

Corey,  Abraham,  an  early  settler,  45. 

Corey,  Jacob,  born  perhaps  in  Southold,  33  ;  lived  here 
before  pastor  Youngs's  death,  45  ;  an  appraiser  of 
the  pastor's  estate,  115  ;  and  died  here  in  1706. 

Corey,  |ohn,  an  early  settler,  45. 


INDEX. 


333 


Cornbury,  Lord,  persecuted  the  Presbyterians,  237-239. 

Corwin,  Rev.  Edward  Tanjore,  D.  D.,  "Corwin  Gene- 
alogy "  of,  32. 

Corwin,  John,  an  early  settler,  45  ;  appraiser  of  the  first 
pastor's  estate,  115. 

Corwin,  John  and  Hannah,  bills  of,  for  sweeping  the 
Meeting  House,  233. 

Corwin,  Matthias,  came  early  to  Southold,  32  ;  contem- 
porary with  the  first  Pastor,  45  ;  ancestor  of  many 
eminent  men,  55. 

County  of  Suffolk  formed,  282. 

County  Court,  where  held,  282, 

County  Court  House  built  at  Riverhead,  282. 

Cow  keeping,  93. 

Cowley,  Abraham,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  76. 

Cramer,  William,  an  early  settler,  45  ;  removed  to  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  52. 

Criminal  laws,  mildness  of  the  Biblical  code,  99. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  75. 

Curtis,  Caleb,  an  early  settler,  45. 

Curtis,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  45. 

Cutchogue,  purchase  from  the  Indians  of,  202. 

Cuyler,  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  Ledyard,  a  descendant  of  the 
Rev.  Azariah  Horton,  269. 

Davenport,  Rev.  John,  first  Pastor  of  New  Haven,  set 
forth  the  purposes  of  the  jurisdiction,  56  ;  removed 
to  Boston,  71. 

Davenport,  Rev.  James,  ancestry,  birth  and  education  of, 
313  ;  called  to  Maidenhead  and  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  316  ; 
ordained  Pastor  of  Southold,  317  ;  his  remarkable 
career,  318  ;  removes  to  Connecticut  Farms,  N.  J., 
264;  becomes  Pastor  of  Maidenhead  and  Hopewell, 
and  dies  there,  318;  description  of  his  burial  place 
and  inscriptions  on  the  tomb-stones  of  himself  and 
his  wife,  319-321. 

Davenport,  Rev.  John,  son  of  Sotithold's  fourth  pastor, 
321-323. 

Dealings  with  the  Indians,  107. 

Deed  of  Confirmation,  207,  208. 

De  Propaganda  Fide  College  founded,  73. 


334  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

Des  Cartes,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of  South- 
old,  74. 

Dickerson,  John,  an  early  settler,  46;  removed  to  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  52. 

Dickerson,  Mahlon,  erected  in  Southold  a  monument  to 
the  memory  of  his  ancestor  Philemon,  and  Phile- 
mon's sons,  Peter  and  Thomas,  and  the  latter's  sons 
who  removed  to  Morris  county,  N.  J.,  53.  122. 

Dickerson,  Peter,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Dickerson,  Philemon,  an  early  settler,  46,  53  ;  site  of  his 
home-lot,  85. 

Dickerson,  Philemon,  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  a  de- 
scendant of  Philemon  Dickerson  of  Southold,  53,  122. 

Dickinson,  Daniel  S.,  Senator  of  the  United  States,  a  de- 
scendantof  Philemon  Dickerson  of  Southold,  53,  122. 

Dickinson,  Rev.  Jonathan,  first  President  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  241. 

Dimon,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Division  of  the  parish  lands,  280. 

Domenicheno,  Zarnpieri,  contemporary  with  the  founders 
of  Southold,  75. 

Dongan,  Thomas,  Governor  of  New  York,  the  East  End 
under  the  Government  of,  194. 

Dordrecht,  Synod  of,  251. 

Dosoris,  description  of,  285-291. 

Dryden,  John,  contemporary  of  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart,  196. 

Dutch  armed  vessels  recapture  New  York,  140;  leave 
Capt.  Anthony  Colve,  Governor,  and  carry  Gov. 
Lovelace  to  Europe,  141. 

Dutch  Government  grants  privilege  to  the  East  End 
towns,  147;  appoints  officers  for  Southold,  149. 

Dutch  and  Connecticut  Commissioners  encounter  in 
Southold,  i  55. 

Dwight,  Dr.  Benjamin  \V.,  the  "  Woolsey  Genealogy" 
of,  292. 

Dwight,  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy,  husband  of  Mary  Woolsey, 
and  their  descendants,  302.  303. 

Early  settlers  of  Southold,  virtues  of,  44  ;  life  and  works, 
161  ;  their  household  furniture  and  farming  utensils, 
162;  had  no  physician.  164  ;  their  household  and  pub- 
lic worship,  164. 

East  End  asks  protection  for  the  whale  fishing,  142;  re- 
quired but  declined  to  swear  fidelity  to  the  Dutch, 


INDEX. 


335 


150;  under  the  administration  of  Gov.  Dongan.  194; 

effect  of  the  English  Revolution  of  1688  on,  194. 
East  Riding  of  Yorkshire  on  Long  Islajid  asks  the  Dutch 

conquerors  for  privileges,  144. 
Edes,  Nicholas,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Education  required  in  Southold  early,  101. 
Edwards,  Matthias,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  migration  to,  272. 
Elton,  John,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Emigration,  Commissioners  of,  forbid  Rev.  John  Youngs's 

passage,  18;  when  appointed,  IQ. 
England,  John,  an  early  settler,  46. 

English  in  New  England  when   Southold  was  settled,  78. 
Episcopal  Church,  introduction  of,  into   New  York,  235- 

237. 

Esty,  Jeffrey,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Europe,   condition    of,   in    the   earlier    part   of   the    Rev. 

Joshua  Hobart's  ministry,  195. 
Evans,  Rev.   Dr.  James  S..  277. 
Exchange  of  land  for  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart,  i<Si. 

Fac  Simile  of  the  writing  of  William  Wells,  Recorder, 
198;  of  the  signature  of  Benjamin  Youngs,  192;  of 
the  signature  of  Benjamin  Woolsey,  259;  of  the  sig- 
nature of  Samuel  Hutchinson,  324. 

Fanley,  William,  an  early  settler.  46  ;  removed  to  Brook 
Haven,  50. 

Farrett,  James,  leased  land  in  Southold  to  Matthew  Sun- 
derland  June  18,  1639;  gave  a  receipt,  September  4. 
1639,  for  rent  paid  thereon,  and  September  9,  1640, 
another  receipt  for  the  second  year's  rent,  36  ;  this 
lease  granted  a  year  earlier  than  his  first  transac- 
tions with  the  settlers  of  Southampton.  37  ;  gave  to 
Richard  Jackson  a  deed  for  land  in  Southold,  August 
15,  1640,  earlier  than  his  deed  for  land  in  Southamp- 
ton, 37. 

Farrington,  Edmund,  promoted  the  settlement  ot  South- 
ampton, 32. 

Feke,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Capt.  John  Underhill,  and  sister 
of  John  Bowne's  wife,  50. 

Feke,  Hannah,  prospective  marriage  of,  made  known  to 
Gov.  Winthrop,  50. 

First  Church  of  Southold  elected  Trustees  earlier  than 
any  other  on  Long  Island,  229. 


336  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

First  settlers  of  Southold,  names  of  many,  unknown, 
virtues  of,  44 ;  names  of  many,  45-48 ;  character  of, 
48  ;  some  removed,  49;  graves  where  made,  57. 

Fithian,  William  Y.,  residence  of,  on  the  original  home- 
lot  of  Thomas  Moore,  85. 

Flatbush,  Reformed  Church  of,  elected  its  first  Trustees 
later  than  First  Church  of  Southold  did,  229. 

Fletcher,  Benjamin,  Governor  of  New  York,  236. 

Flint,  Benoni,  an  early  settler,  46  ;  witness  of  the  Indian 
deed,  204. 

Floyd,  Hon.  David  G.,  270. 

Franklin,  John,  an  early  settler,  46. 

French,  Rev.  Frederick,  Rector  of  Worlingworth  and 
Southolt,  letter  of,  21. 

Frost,  John,  an  early  settler,  46  ;  removed  to  Brook 
Haven,  50. 

Fundamental  order  or  constitution  of  the  New  Haven 
Colony,  66-68. 

Galileo,   Galilei,   contemporary    with    the    founders    of 

Southold,  persecuted,  73. 
Gallery  built  in   1699  at  the  west   end   of  the    Meeting 

House  and  in  1700  at  the  east  end,  232  ;  bill  therefor, 

233- 

Gardiner,  Samuel  S.,  326. 

Glover,  Charles,  an  early  settler,  46;  site  of  his  home- 
lot,  85. 

Glover,  Samuel,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Goldsmith,  Beulah,  residence  of,  on  the  original  home, 
lot  of  Henry  Case,  85. 

Goldsmith,  Major  Joshua,  one  of  the  original  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  First  Church,  230;  succeeded  Free- 
gift  Wells  as  Deacon,  232. 

Goldsmith,  Ralph,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Goodyear,  Stephen,  bought  hind  in  Southold  of  Thomas 
Weatherby  and  sold  it  to  John  Ketcham,  37. 

Governmental  changes  caused  trouble  and  suffering,  129; 
transferred  Southold  from  New  Haven  to  Connecti- 
cut, 130;  and  from  Connecticut  to  New  York,  132. 

Graves  of  the  first  settlers,  where  made,  57. 

Grave-digger,  first,  Richard  Benjamin,  198. 

Greete,  John,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Griffin,  Augustus,  "Journal  "of,  contains  a  fanciful  story 
of  the  settlement  of  Southold,  26;  names  of  his 


INDEX. 


337 


"thirteen  adventurers,"  27;  his  characler,  27;  his 
narrative  romantic,  28  ;  his  thirteen  adventurers  in- 
clude men  of  different  generations,  28. 

Grotius,  Hugo,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  74. 

Grover,  Samuel,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Grover,  Simon,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Guericke,  Otto  von,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  74. 

Guido,  Reni,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of  South- 
old,  75. 

Gun-racks  in  church,  109. 

Haines,  James,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Haines,  John,  an  early  settler,  46  ;  removed  to  Elizabeth 

N.  J.,  52. 

Hallock,  Peter,  probably  father  of  William,  30. 
Hallock,  William,  an  early  settler,  ancestor  of  Halliocks, 

Hallocks,  (including  Gerard,  Rev.  Moses,  and  other 

eminent    men),     Hallecks,    (including    Fitz-Greene, 

Major  General  Henry  Wager,  and  others),  wrote  his 

name  Holyoake,  30,  46. 
Hallock,  Rev.  Dr.  William  A.,  author  of  the  "  Hallock 

Genealogy,"  30. 
Hampden,    John,    contemporary    with    the    founders    of 

Southold,  75. 
Hampton,  Rev.  John  Presbyterian  Minister,  persecuted 

by  Lord  Cornbury,  239. 
Harrude,  Richard,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Harvey,   William,   contemporary  with    the    founders   of 

Southold,  74. 

Havens,  George,  of  Shelter  Island,  327. 
Hayes,  Rev.  Charles  Wells,  author  of"  William  Wells  of 

Southold  and  his  descendants,"  121. 
Hayes,  Robert  P.,  121. 
Henderson,  Rev.  Jacob,  258. 
Herbert,  John,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Herbert,  John,  Jr.,  an  early  settler,  46;    land  of,  bought 

for  the   use   of  the    Minister,   223;    present  church 

edifice  and  parsonage  on  it,  225. 
Hildreth,  James,  an  early  settler,  46. 
Hillhouse,  James,  and  his  kindred,  295,  296. 
Hingham,  England,  25. 
29 


338  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

Historical  Society  of  Long  Island  has  the  Southold 
Church's  gun-rack,  109. 

Hobart,  Edmund,  grandfather  of  Southold's  second  pas- 
tor, 167. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Gershom,  birth,  life  and  death  of,  171. 

Hobart,  Irene,  daughter  of  Pastor  Hobart  and  wife  of 
Daniel  Way,  245. 

Hobart,  Dr.  Japheth,  birth,  life  and  death  of,  171,  172. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Jeremiah,  birth,  life  and  death  of,  170;  his 
wife  and  her  kindred,  171. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Joshua,  ancestry  of,  167;  his  birth,  educa- 
tion, and  ordination  in  Southold,  170;  settlement 
and  salary,  178-180;  cost  of  his  house,  time  of  the 
yearly  payment  of  his  salary,  relative  value  of  his 
dwelling  and  salary,  180;  site  of  his  dwelling,  182; 
its  character,  and  his  successors  in  it,  183;  exchange 
of  land  of,  181,  182  ;  prominent  and  active  in  politicaJ 
affairs,  in  the  introduction  of  new  manufactures  and 
mechanic  arts,  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  in  the 
care  of  the  Town  poor,  in  the  settlement  of  estates, 
in  the  adjustment  of  disagreements,  211  ;  sells  his 
house  and  farm  to  the  Town  for  a  parsonage,  233- 
235  ;  his  death,  242  ;  his  tomb-stone  and  epitaph, 
242-245. 

Hobart,  Margaret  (Vassel),  wife  of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Ho- 
bart, 173. 

Hobart,  Mary  (Rainsford),  wife  of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Ho- 
bart, marriage  of,  173;  her  death,  grave,  tomb-stone, 
245. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Nehemiah,  birth,  life  and  death  of,  171. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Noah,  nephew  of  the  Southold  pastor, 
statements  of,  respecting  the  family,  174. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Peter,  father  of  the  second  Pastor  of 
Southold,  sketch  of,  167-170. 

Horton  house,  enlargement  of,  for  a  county  court  house, 
214;  picture  of,  215. 

Horton,  Rev.  Azariah,  sketch  of,  265-269;  born  in  the 
old  Horton  house,  Missionary  among  the  Indians  at 
Shinnecock  and  at  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  266- 
268;  first  Pastor  of  Madison,  N.  J.  ;  death,  grave, 
and  inscription  on  his  tomb-stone,  268  ;  monument 
to  and  descendants  of,  including  the  Rev.  Theodore 
L.  Cuyler,  D.  D.,  269. 

Horton,    Barnabas,    born    in    Mouseley,    Leicestershire, 


TNDFA-.  339 

England,  28;  after  1640  lived  and  died  in  Southold, 
29;  an  early  settler,  46;  site  of  his  home-lots,  84; 
description  of  his  tomb-stone,  122. 

Horton,  Benjamin,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Horton,  Caleb,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Horton,  David  P.,  residence  of,  on  the  original  home- 
lots  of  Barnabas  Horton,  84. 

Horton,  George  F.,  M.  D.,  author  of  the  "  Horton  Gen- 
ealogy," 29. 

Horton,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  father  of  the  Rev.  Azariah  Hor- 
ton, 265. 

Horton,  Joseph,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Horton,  Joshua,  appraiser  of  the  first  Pastor's  estate, 
115. 

Horton,  Rev.  Simon,  born  in  the  old  Horton  house,  263; 
sketch  of,  263-265. 

Horton,  Theodore  K.,  visit  of,  to  Mouseley,  England,  122. 

Horton,  Deacon  William,  presided  at  the  first  ele<flion  of 
Trustees  of  the  First  Church,  231. 

Hospitality  in  winter  to  Church-goers,  281. 

Houldsworth,  Jonas,  an  early  settler  who  removed  to 
Huntington,  46. 

Howe,  Capt.  Daniel,  a  planter  of  Southampton,  31. 

Howe,  John,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of  South- 
old,  76. 

Howell,  George  R.,  historian  of  Southampton,  31  ;  un- 
historic  claim  of,  that  Southampton  is  the  oldest 
Town  on  Long  Island,  40. 

Howell,  Richard,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Hubbard,  Rev.  John,  of  Jamaica,  generosity  and  suffer- 
ing of,  238. 

Hunter,  Col.  Robert,  Governor  of  New  York,  arrests 
persecution  and  gives  Southold  an  opportunity  to 
build  a  new  Meeting  House,  239;  controversy  with 
Episcopal  Ministers,  258. 

Huntington  submits  to  the  Dutch,  152. 

Hutchinson,  Samuel,  member  of  Assembly,  etc.,  auto- 
graph of,  324. 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  46;  delegate  from 
Southold  to  confer  with  the  Dutch  conquerors,  146  : 
declined  to  be  a  magistrate  of  Southold  under  the 
Dutch  government,  157. 

Huntting,  Edward,  residence  of,  on  the  original  home- 
lot  of  Barnabas  Wines,  85. 


34-O  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

Huntting,  Jonathan   W.,   residence  of,  on   the  original 

home-lot  of  John  Budd,  85. 
Hyde,  Edward,  Lord  Cornbury,  Governor  of  New  York, 

character  and  administration  of,  235-239. 

Incorporation  of  the  Commoners,  209;  of  the  First 
Church,  229-232. 

Indian  name  of  Southold,  25,  43. 

Indian  Deed,  202-204. 

Indian  names  of  the  sellers  of  the  land  of  the  Town,  204. 

Indian  title  purchased  in  August,  1640,  after  the  settle- 
ment of  Southold,  39  ;  older  than  Southampton's,  41. 

Indian  wars  and  ravages,  197. 

Indians,  Rev.  Azariah  Horton's  Mission  to,  266-268. 

Indians,  sale  of  dogs  to,  prohibited,  but  on  certain  con- 
ditions rum  and  arms  allowed,  95;  dealings  with, 
107. 

Inscriptions  on  the  tomb-stones  of  Barnabas  Horton,  29  ; 
the  Rev.  John  Youngs,  114;  "William  Wells,  Esq., 
120;  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart,  244;  the  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Woolsey,  292  ;  the  Rev.  James  Davenport  and 
his  wife,  321. 

Interlopers,  61. 

Intrusion  needless,  97. 

Isaacs,  Esther,  wife  of  Benjamin  Woolsey,  Jr.,  and  her 
kindred,  299-303. 

Jackson,  Richard,  an  early  settler,  obtains  a  deed  for  land 
in  Southold  August  15,  1640,  and  October  25,  1640, 
sells  his  land,  house,  etc.,  37,  46. 

Jamaica,  Long  Island,  Cornbury's  robbery  of  the  Presby- 
terians in,  237-239. 

James,  Rev.  Thomas,  delegate  from  Eastharnpton  to  con- 
fer with  the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 

Jansen,  Cornelius,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  DoClrine  of  Augustine  of,  73. 

Jennings,  Joseph,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Jessup,  John,  delegate  from  Southampton  to  confer  with 
the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Frank  A.,  Pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Chester,  N.  J.,  quotation  from,  272. 

Johnson,  William  an  early  settler,  46  ;  removed  to  Eliza- 
beth, X.  J.,  52. 


INDEX.  34! 

Jones,  Jeffrey,  an  early  settler,  46  ;  removed  to  Elizabeth, 

N.  J.,  52. 
Judges  of  Suffolk  County,  324. 

Kepler,  Johann,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  74. 

Ketch,  value  of,  94. 

Ketchabonnach,  first  Minister  of,  a  Southold  man,  260. 

Ketcham,  John,  an  early  settler,  sells  land  to  Thomas 
Moore,  38,  46. 

King,  John,  an  early  settler,  46. 

King,  Samuel,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Kircher,  Athanasius,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  74. 

Knyffe,  Captain,  and  others  sent  by  the  Dutch  to  ac- 
cept the  submission  of  the  East  End,  150,  152. 

Ladder  to  be  ready  for  use,  91. 

Lamb.  Rev.  Joseph,  in  1717,  first.  Minister  of  Mattituck, 

(where  his  wife  died),   removed  to  Baskingridge,  \. 

J.,  241,  278. 

Land,  who  might  buy  in  Southold,  96. 
Landon,  Francis,  residence  of,  on  the  site  of  Col.  Arnold's 

dwelling,  93. 
Landon,  Jared,  one  of  the  first  Board  of  Church  Trustees, 

230. 
Laws  of  New  \  ork  respecting  church  property,  225-229; 

of  Southold  made  by  and  for  a  virtuous  and  thrifty 

people,  95. 
Lester,   Col.  Thomas   S.,    residence   of,    on    the   original 

Calves  Xeck,  89. 

L'Hommedieu,  Hon.  Exra,  sketch  of,  227  230. 
Lightfoot,    John,    contemporary    with    the    founders    of 

Southold,  76. 
Lincoln,    lion.   Solomon,   historian    of    Ilingham,   Mass., 

letter  of,  172-1 74. 

Lloyd,  James,  and  his  descendants.  293.  294. 
Locke,  John,  contemporary  with    Rev.  Joshua    llobart, 

196. 

London,  great  plague  and  tire  in.  195. 
Long  Parliament  met  two  weeks  after  the  organization 

of  the  Sonthold  Church.  78. 
Lord,  Hon.  Frederick  W..  M.  1)..  270. 
Lost  art,  to  make  vice  and  crime  pay  their  expenses,  92 


342  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

Lovelace,  Gov.  Francis,  character  and  administration  of, 
139;  burns  the  protests  of  Southold,  Southampton 
and  Easthampton,  140. 

Mackemie,  Rev.  Francis,  Presbyterian  Minister,  perse- 
cuted by  Lord  Cornbury,  239. 

Manning,  Captain,  surrenders  New  York,  141. 

Mapes,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  31,  32  ;  site  of  his  home- 
lot,  85  ;  appointed  to  lay  out  Calves  Neck,  91. 

Mather,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  Pastor  of  Aquebogue,  241. 

Mattituck,  purchase  from  the  Indians  of,  202  ;  reasons 
for  the  organization  of  the  Church  of,  240-242  ;  first 
Pastor  of,  241  ;  Church  of,  admitted  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Long  Island,  278. 

Mayflower,  intended  place  of  settlement  of  the  passen- 
gers in  the,  252. 

Meacham,  Jeremiah,  an  early  settler,  46  ;  removed  to 
Easthampton  and  prominent  there,  49. 

Meeting  House,  first,  a  substantial  building,  site  and  uses 
of,  123,  124;  hallowed  associations  of,  125;  former 
congregations  of,  126;  second,  124;  first,  made  in 
1684  a  county  prison,  213,  282;  four  cedar  windows 
of  the  new,  sold,  213;  date  of  the  building  of  the 
second,  214;  sites  of  the  first,  second,  third  and 
fourth,  217;  a  "flatter  roof"  in  1711  put  on  the 
third,  240. 

Metcalf,  Stephen,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Migration  from  Southold,  271. 

Military  precautions  and  defences,  108. 

Mill  on  Hallock's  Neck,  91. 

Miller,  Andrew,  delegate  from  Brook  Haven  to  confer 
with  the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 

Miller,  George,  an  early  settler,  46;  removed  to  East- 
hampton, a  chief  man  there,  49. 

Milton,  John,  pupil  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Young,  22  ;  con- 
temporary with  the  founders  of  Southold,  74;  died 
in  the  year  of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Ilobart's  ordination, 
196. 

Moore,  Benjamin,  a  nearly  settler,  46;  bought  the  land 
on  which  the  Case  house  now  stands,  85. 

Moore,  Charles  B.,  Esq.,  author  of  the  invaluable  "In- 
dexes of  Southold,"  19,  ct  a/. 

Moore,  Jonathan,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Moore,  Nathaniel,  an  early  settler,  46. 


343 

Moore,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  46 ;  site  of  his  home- 
lot,  85;  in  1673  appointed  magistrate  of  Southold 
by  the  Dutch,  149;  declined  the  office,  157. 

Moriches,  first  Church  of,  organized,  and  first  Minister 
of,  a  Southold  man,  260. 

Morris  county,  N.  J.,  migration  to,  272. 

Muirson,  Dr.  George,  and  his  kindred,  300-3,- 1. 

Nantes,  effect:  of  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of,  195. 

Navigation  in  the  early  times  of  Southold,  77. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  settlement  of,  69-71. 

New  England  at  the  close  of  its  first  generation,  196. 

New  Haven  in  August,  1640,  purchased  the  Indian  title 
of  Southold,  36;  settlement  of,  38;  purchased  in 
1640  lands  on  the  Delaware,  41  ;  constitution  of  the 
Jurisdiction  of,  66-68. 

Newton,  Capt.  Bryan  and  his  wife  Elsie,  253. 

Newtown,  L.  I.,  Rev.  Simon  Ilorton,  Pastor  of,  264; 
Church  of,  ruined  by  the  British,  265. 

New  Year's  Day,  25th  of  March,  old  style,  [79. 

Nicholl,  William,  323-326. 

Nichols,  Francis,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Nicholls,  Col.  Richard,  takes  possession  of  New  York 
and  Long  Island  for  the  Duke  of  York,  132;  char- 
acter and  administration  of,  138,  139. 

Norton,  Humphrey,  early  in  Southold,  46;  punished  tor 
disturbing  the  peace  thereof,  103  105. 

Oldest  Town  on  Long  Island,  40,  41. 

Orange  county,  N.  Y.,  migration  to,  272. 

Orient,  land  in,  given  in  1718  by  David  Youngs  for  the 
site  of  a  Meeting  House  and  reasons  for  building  the 
edifice  which  was  erected  in  the  following  years, 
240-242,  277. 

Osman,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Overtoil.  Isaac,  an  early  settler,  46. 

Overtoil,  Rev.  Stephen,  Pastor  of  Chester,  N,  J.,  276. 

Owen,  John,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of  South- 
old,  76. 

Paine,  John,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Paine,  Peter,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Paine,  widow,  came  to  Salem,  24. 
Parents,  honor  due  to,  109. 


344  HISTORY    OF    SOUTH'OLt). 

Parishes,  Province  of  New  York  divided  into,  and 
churches  to  be  built  in,  236. 

Parish  lands  of  Southold,  division  of,  280. 

Part  I.,  14-164;  II.,  165-245;  III.,  247-282;  IV.,  283-327. 

Pascal,  Blaise,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of  South- 
old,  74. 

Patent  for  the  Town,  199-207. 

Patentees  of  the  Town,  200,  201. 

Patentees'  Deed,  207,  208. 

Peace,  treaty  of,  at  Westminster  between  Dutch  and 
English,  160. 

Peakim,  John,  an  early  settler,  47. 

People  of  the  Town  increase,  240. 

Perkins,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  character  of  the  writings  of, 
1 17  ;  Rev.  John  Youngs's  copy  of  the  works  of,  1 18. 

Peters,  Rev.  Hugh,  inventor  of  the  imaginary  "  Blue 
Laws  of  Connecticut,"  63. 

Peters,  Richard  L.,  residence  of,  Col.  John  Youngs's 
former  home,  87. 

Petition  of  Southold  to  Col.  Richard  Nicholls,  133-135. 

Petty,  Edward,  an  early  settler,  47;  bequeaths  his  chil- 
dren, 94. 

Phillips,  G.  Wells,  owns  the  site  voted  in  1679  for  a  Wind 
Mill,  93. 

Pierson,  Rev.  Abraham,  first  Pastor  of  Southampton, 
removed,  and  settled  Branford,  Conn.,  and  subse- 
quently Newark,  X.  J.,  58. 

Pierson,  Henry,  Clerk  of  the  East  Riding  of  Yorkshire 
on  Long  Island,  115.  ti6. 

Planters  in  New  Haven,  Southold,  Southampton,  etc., 
before  the  organization  of  their  respective  churches, 

3«- 

Platt,  Isaac,  delegate  from  Huntington  to  confer  with 
the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 

Pomeroy.  Rev.  Samuel,  preceded  Rev.  Simon  Horton  at 
Newton,  L.  1..  264. 

Pope,  Alexander,  244. 

Population  and  wealth  east  and  west  of  Thomas  Bene- 
dict's creek.  180,  181. 

Post  office  in  Southold  on  the  original  home-lot  of  John 
Budd,  84. 

Presbytery  of  Long  Island  organized  April  i/th,  1717,  at 
Southampton,  278. 

Price,  George  James,  owner  of  Dosoris,  290. 


INDEX.  345 

Prices  of  produce  in  early  years  of  Southold,  94. 
Prime,  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  S.,  historian  of  Long  Island, 

statement    of,    that  "Southold  was  the    first    Town 

settled  on  Long  Island,"  40. 
Prison    for    Suffolk    county  made    of  the    first  Meeting 

House  of  Southold,  213. 
Progress,  hindrances  to  beneficent,  98. 
Property,  distribution    of,    to  heirs    by  law  formerly  in 

Southold,  106. 
Property  of  Churches,    laws    of    the    State    respecting' 

225-229. 

Provincial  Governors,  323. 
Prudhon,  famous  saying  of,  62. 
Pew  for  Capt.  Youngs  and  Mr.  Isaac  Arnold,  212. 
Purchase  of  the    Rev.  Joshua    Hobart's    house   by   the 

Town  for  a  parsonage,  233-235. 
Puritans  conferred  civil  and  religious  liberty,  66. 
Purrier,     William,    an     early    settler,     father-in-law     of 

Thomas  Mapes,  31,  47. 

Queen  Anne,  instructions  of,  to  her  cousin,  Lord   Corn- 
bury,  235. 

Racket,  fohn,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Rainsford,  Mary,  second  wife  of  Pastor  Hobart,  173-176. 

Raynor,  Joseph,  delegate  from   Southampton  to  confer 

with  the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 
Recorders,    William    Wells,    Richard    Terry,     Benjamin 

Youngs,  199. 
Records  of  Southold  begin  with    1651,  earliest  lost,  83  ; 

make  known  the  life  of  the  place,  90  :  what  must  be 

entered  in,  90,  105. 

Reeve,  Rev.  Abner,  sketch  of.  259-262. 
Reeve,  Rev.  Ezra,  sketch  of,  261. 
Reeve,  James,  an  early  settler,  47  ;  gave  in    1715  land  for 

a  Meeting  House  and  Burying  Ground  in  Mattituck. 

241. 

Reeve,  Judge  Tapping,  sketch  of,  261-263. 
Reeve,  Thomas,  father  of  Rev.  Abner  Reeve,  259. 
Reeves,  Hon.   Henry  A.,  statement   of.   that    Southold   is 

the  oldest  town  on  Long  Island,  42,43. 
Religion  the  chief  purpose  of  the   settlers   of  Southold 

generally,  56. 
Revdon,    Suffolk    county,  England,   village,    rhapel    and 


346  HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD; 

vicarage  of,  22;  Rev.  Christopher  Young,  vicar  of. 

and    Rev.  John   Goldsmith,  his  successor,  23  ;  Rev. 

John  Youngs  probably  connected  with,  24. 
Rich  men  perpetuate  their  names,  222,  223. 
Rider,  John,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Rider,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Rights,  bill  of,  100  ;  of  all  carefully  regarded  in  Southold, 

212. 

Riverhead  becomes  the  county  seat,  282. 
Robertson,  Thomas,  253. 
Robinson,  William,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Rubens,  Peter  Paul,  contemporary  with  the   founders  of 

Southold,  75. 

Saint  Margaret's    of    Southolt,     Suffolk,   England,     19; 

Rev.  John    Youngs  not  an   incumbent  of,   20;    St. 

Margaret's,  of  llketshall,  22  ;  of  Reydon,  22. 
Salem,  New  England,  Rev.  John  Youngs  desired  to  pass 

to,  1 8  ;  he  and  others  in,  and  lands  voted  them,  24. 
Salisbury,  Evan,  an  early  settler,  47  ;  removed  to  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  52. 
Salisbury,   Sylvester,    received   the    return    of  Southold 

from  the  government  of  Connecticut  to  that  of  the 

Duke  of  York,  193,  194. 
Salmon,  John,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Salmon,  William,  an  early  settler,  married   the  widow  of 

Matthew  Sunderland,  37,  47. 
Savings  Bank  of  Southold   on  the  original  home  lot  of 

John  Budd,  84. 

Scudder,  Henry,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Scudder,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Seating  the  Meeting  House,  91,  213,  240. 
Second  Pastor  to  be  obtained,  177. 
Selden,    John,    contemporary    with     the     founders     of 

Southold,  75. 

Selectmen,  names  of  the  first  mentioned,  96. 
Settlement  of  Southold  at  a  time  of  great  progress,  75  ; 

of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart,  178-180. 
Settlers   in  Southold    here  in  1639,  how  many  unknown, 

38  ;  did   not  claim   that  the   saints    should   rule   the 

earth,  62  ;   would    maintain   their  liberty.  64  ;  blamed 

by  the  unjust,  65. 
Seward,  Hon.  William  H.,  and    his   kindred   of  Southold 

ancestry,  55. 


INDEX.  347 

Sexton,  first,  Richard  Benjamin,  site  of  his  dwelling,  8; 

Shakespeare,  William,  contemporary  with  the  founders 
of  Southold,  74. 

Shell  lime,  242. 

Shelter  Island  set  off  from  Southold  and  made  a  Town, 
324;  first  Town  Meeting,  citizens  of,  at  the  time,' 
324;  officers  first  eleded,  325  ;  first  Meeting  House, 
325  ;  congregation  incorporated  and  church  formed, 
325- 

Sheriffs,  324. 

Skidmore,  Richard,  an  earl}-  settler,  47. 

Skidmore,  Thomas,  delegate  from  Huntington  to  confer 
with  the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 

Smith,  Chief  Justice  William,  and  his  kindled,  500  311. 

Smithtown,  first  resident  Minister  in,  a  Southold  man, 
260. 

Smyth,  Nathaniel,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Smyth,  Robert,  an  early  settler.  47. 

Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge  sent  Rev. 
Azariah  Horton  to  the  Indians,  267. 

Southampton,  settled  later  than  Southold,  42  ;  preferred 
Connecticut  to  New  Haven,  58  ;  boundaries  adjusted, 
94;  preferred  Connecticut'sgovernment  to  the  Duke 
of  York's,  133. 

Southard,  Henry,  and  his  son,  Samuel   L.,  279. 

Southold,  probably  named  from  Southould,  now  South- 
wold,  Suffolk  county,  England,  25  ;  purchased  and 
settled  by  New  Haven,  25  ;  Rev.  John  Youngs  on 
the  2ist  of  October,  1640,  gathers  his  church  anew 
in,  25;  Indian  name  of,  Yennecock,  25:  planters  of, 
united  with  New  Haven,  26:  were  on  the  giound 
many  months  before  October  21,  1640,  and  some  of 
them  perhaps  two  years  previous,  39  ;  oldest  Long 
Island  Town,  36  43;  Indian  name  of,  25,  43;  early 
settlers  of,  44-48  ;  right!}  and  purposes  of  the  found- 
ers, 56-60;  they  did  not  claim  that  the  saints  should 
rule  the  earth,  62  ;  what  they  desired,  63  6S  ;  why 
they  came,  in  1(162,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connec- 
ticut, 71  ;  why  they  made  the  Bible  their  chief  code. 
72  ;  events  of  the  time  of  the  >ett!ement,  ~i  7«S  ; 
planting  of,  a  lime  of  great  literary  and  artistic 
progress  and  excellence,  74  76  ;  in  an  age  lull  ol  en- 
terprise, 76;  at  the  beginning  of  the  British  empire 
in  India,  77;  spirit  of  the  English  people  at  that 


HISTORY    OF    SOUTHOLD. 

time,  77 ;  the  Town's  early  care  for  its  prosperity, 
81  ;  the  site  intelligently  chosen,  81  ;  advantages  of 
the  site,  82  ;  description  of  the  early  settlement, 
82-87;  knowledge  of  its  history  from  1639  to  1651 
fragmentary,  90;  early  laws  of,  91-93;  intrusion  in- 
to, needless,  97  ;  knowledge  and  other  advantages 
of  its  Biblical  code,  especially  the  mildness  of  its 
criminal  laws,  99;  required  public  records,  100; 
made  provision  for  education  and  scriptural  worship, 
101-103  ;  its  military  precautions  and  defenses,  108. 
109  ;  site  of  its  Meeting  House  and  Burying  Ground, 
123-126;  under  the  New  Haven  jurisdiction  twenty- 
two  years,  130;  then  accepted  the  government  of 
Connecticut,  131  ;  dissatisfied  with  the  government 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  133;  its  whale  fishing,  142, 
143;  declines  fidelity  to  the  Dutch,  151,  157;  life 
and  works  of  its  early  settlers,  161  ;  their  property 
and  employments,  162  ;  tax  payers  of  1675.  184-186  ; 
wealthy  men,  187;  claims  in  November,  1674,  to  be 
under  the  government  of  Connecticut  and  appoints 
Rev.  Joshua  Hobart  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hutchinson 
with  full  power,  191,  192;  last  vain  effort  of,  for 
union  with  Connecticut,  195  ;  its  Indian  deed,  202- 
204;  its  patent,  204-207;  deed  of  confirmation,  207- 
208;  its  commoners,  208-211  ;  tax  payers  of  1683, 
217-220;  purchase  of  land  for  the  minister  or  minis- 
ters, 223-225  ;  its  first  Church  Trustees,  225-232;  its 
purchase  of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Hobart's  farm,  233- 
235  ;  sends  forth  settlers  of  other  places.  271-277; 
multiplies  churches,  277-280;  divides  parish  lands, 
280;  produces  worthy  men,  227-232,  257-299. 

Southolt,  England,  description  of,  20-22. 

Southwold,  England,  description  of,  23,  24. 

Stearns,  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  F.,  statement  of,  in  his  "His- 
tory of  the  First  Church  of  Newark,  N.  [.,"  70,  71. 

Steenwyck,  Cornelius,  and  other  Dutch  commissioners 
sent  to  Southold,  153-157. 

Stevenson,  Edward,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Stevenson,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  removed  by  way  of 
Hempstead  to  Newtown,  L.  ].,  51. 

Stiles,  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra,  President  of  Yale  College,  manu- 
script of,  respecting  the  Hoharts,  173-176. 

Stirling  Creek,  270, 


INDEX. 


349 


Sturgis,  Richard  S.,  residence  of,  on  the  original  home 
lot  of  Richard  Benjamin,  198. 

Style,  change  of,  from  old  to  new,  179. 

Suffolk  county  formed  in  1683  and  court  house  built  in 
Riverhead  some  forty-four  years  later,  282. ,', 

Sunderland,  Matthew,  on  the  i8th  of  June,  1639,  rented 
land  in  Southold,  and  cultivated  it,  paying  rent  in 
September,  1639,  and  in  the  next  September,  36,  37. 

Supervisors,  327. 

Surinam  exchanged  for  New  York,  160. 

Surrogates,  324. 

Swan,  Rev.  Benjamin  L.,  hospitality  of,  289. 

Sweeping  the  Meeting  House,  bill  for,  233. 

Swezey,  John,  an  early  settler,  47  ;  ancestor  of  the  Hon. 
William  H.  Seward  and  others,  55. 

Swezey,  Rev.  Samuel,  pastor  at  Chester,  N.  J.,  275,  276. 

Sylvester,  Joshua,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Sylvester,  Capt.  Nathaniel,  of  Shelter  Island,  hospital- 
ity of,  154,  155. 

Tax  lists,  184-187.  217-220. 

Taxes,  how  assessed  and  paid,  95. 

Taylor,    Jeremy,    contemporary    with    the    founders    of 

Southold,  76. 

Taylor,  John  and  wife,  257. 
Terrell,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Terry,  Daniel,  an  early   settler,  47. 
Terry,  Hiram  J.,  residence  of,  on  the  original  home  lot 

of  Philemon  Dickerson,  85. 
Terry,  John,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Terry,  Jonathan  B.,  wharf  of,  91. 
Terry,  Richard,  an  early  settler,  47  ;   Recorder,  199. 
Terry,  Stuart  T.,  residence  of,  156. 
Terry,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  47  ,  site  of  his  home  lot 

south    of    Barnabas    Wines's.    where    Patrick    May 

now    lives.    85  ;     came    in     1635    with    his    brothers 

Robert  and  Richard  from  England,  30. 
Thirty  years'  war,  73. 

Thompson,  Benjamin  F.,  statement  of,  26. 
Thompson,  Martin  E.,  courtesy  of,  290  ;  death  of,  292. 
Throop,  Rev.  William,  fifth  pastor  of  Southold,  sermons 

of,  260,  326. 
Tillotson,   John,    contemporary    with    the     founders    of 

Southold,  76. 

3° 


35O  HISTORY   OF   SOUTHOLD. 

Town  Patent,  204-206. 

Torricelli,  Evangelista,  contemporary  with  the  founders 
of  Southold,  74. 

Towns  of  Long  Island  ordered  to  send  depnties  to 
Hempstead,  133  ;  accepted  the  Duke  of  York's  laws 
and  became  part  of  his  Yorkshire,  135  ;  pass  from 
his  government  to  Connecticut,  but  find  it  necessa- 
ry to  return,  193. 

Training,  watching  and  warding,  197. 

Treadwell,  Edward,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Trinity  Church,  New  York,  236,  237. 

Trowbridge,  Thomas  R.,  presented  the  Rev.  John- 
Youngs's  copy  of  Perkins's  Works  to  the  New 
Haven  Colony  Historical  Society,  118. 

Trustees  of  the  First  Church,  225-232. 

Tucker,  Charles  an  early  settler,  47. 

Tucker,  Johu,  an  early  settler,  47  ;  site  of  his  residence,, 
whence  the  name  of  "  Tucker's  Lane,"  before  he  re- 
moved to  Brook  Haven,  50. 

Turks  invading  Europe  in  the  early  years  of  Southold, 
195. 

Turner,  Daniel,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Tustin,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Tuthill,  "  Family  Meeting"  pamphlet,  30. 

Tuthill,  Henry,  an  early  settler,  30,  47;  ancestor  of  all 
Southold's  Tuthills,  266. 

Tuthill,  Ira  Hull,  Esq.,  residence  of,  on  one  of  the  origi- 
nal home  lots  of  Barnabas  Horton,  84. 

Tuthill,  John,  an  early  settler,  47  ;  in  1642  chief  officer 
of  Southold,  266. 

Tuthill,  John,  Jr.,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Underhill,  Capt.  John,  an  early  settler  of  Southold,  47  ; 

letter  of,  from  Southold,  to  Gov.  Winthrop,  51  ;  site 

of  his  dwelling,  85. 
United  Colonies  of  New  England  formed  for  religion  and 

liberty,  66  ;  in  1673  claim  the  East  End  towns,  149. 
Ussher,   James,    contemporary    with    the     founders    of 

Southold,  74. 

Vail,  Jeremiah,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Vail,  Jeremiah,  Jr.,  an  early  settler,  47. 
Van  Dyke,  Antony,  contemporary  with  the  founders  of 
Southold,  75. 


INDEX.  351 

"  Varment,"  premium  for  killing,  95. 

Vassel,  Margaret,  first  wife  of  the   Rev.  Joshua  Hobart 

173-176. 
Vesey,   Rev.  William,  first  Minister  of  Trinity  Church, 

New  York,  236. 
Vessel,  value  of,  94. 
Villefeu,  Rene,  wind  mill  of,  burnt,  94. 

Wading  River  village  at  first  named  West  Hold,  44. 

Wangford,  England,  Hundred  and  Village  of,  22,  23. 

Watts,  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac,  244. 

Way,  Daniel,  husband  of  Irene  Hobart,  245, 

Wealthy  men  of  1675  and  of  1683  shown  by  the  tax  lists, 
184-187,  217-220. 

Weatherby, Thomas,  bought,  October  25,  1640,  the  house 
and  land  of  Richard  Jackson,  37. 

Welles,  Rev.  William,  Prebendary  of  Norwich  Cathe- 
dral, ancestor  of  Southold's  Wellses.  28. 

Wells,  William,  an  early  settler,  28,  47  ;  Clerk  and  Re- 
corder of  the  Town,  52,  53  ;  site  of  his  home  lot, 
84;  Selectman,  96;  Sheriff  of  Yorkshire  on  Long 
Island,  113;  death  of,  113;  place  of  his  grave,  118; 
picflure  of  his  tomb-stone,  120;  beautiful  Genealogy 
of,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Wells  Hayes,  and  quotation 
from  it,  121  ;  delegate  from  Southold  to  the  Duke  of 
York's  convention  at  Hempstead,  133.  136. 

Wells,  Freegift,  Deacon,  presided  at  the  first  election  of 
Trustees  of  the  First  Church  and  elecled  one  of 
them,  230,  231. 

Wells,  Joshua,  bill  of,  for  carting  timber  for  Meeting 
House  gallery,  233. 

Wells,  William  H.,  repaired  the  tomb-stone  of  William 
Wells,  121. 

West  Hold,  the  original  name  of  Wading  River  village, 
44. 

Whitney,  Henry,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Whittier,  Thomas,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Wickham  Market,  21. 

Wiggins,  Abraham,  an  early  settler.  47. 

Wiggins,  John,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Wind  Mill,  site  for  at  Pine  Neck,  93. 

Wines,  Rev.  Dr.  /Nbijah,  native  of  Southold,  first  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  in  Bangor  Seminary,  53,  54. 

Wines,   Deacon    Barnabas,  an  early   settler,  47  ;  descen- 


352  HISTORY  OF  SOUTHOLD. 

dants  of,  53 ;  site  of  his  home  lot,  85  ;  appraiser  of 
the  estate  of  the  Rev.  John  Youngs,  115,  116;  freed 
from  training,  watching  and  warding,  197. 

Wines,  Barnabas,  Jr.,  an  early  settler,  47  ;  removed  to 
Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  52, 

Wines,  Rev.  Dr.  Enoch  Cobb,  descendant  of  Deacon 
Barnabas  Wines,  54  ;  letter  of,  55. 

Wines,  Samuel,  an  early  settler,  47. 

Winthrop,  John,  Jr.,  Governor,  obtains  the  patent  for 
Connecticut,  68. 

Wood,  Hon.  Silas,  erroneous  statement  of,  respecting 
the  settlement  of  Southold,  40. 

Woodhull,   Rev.  Nathan,  Pastor  of  Newtown,  L.  I.,  265. 

Woodhull,  Richard,  delegate  from  Brook  Haven  to  con- 
fer with  the  Dutch  conquerors,  146. 

Woolsey,  Rev.  Benjamin,  great-grandfather  of  the  third 
pastor  of  Southold,  250. 

Woolsey,  Rev.  Benjamin,  ancestors  of,  249-255  ;  birth 
of,  256;  graduated  at  Yale,  256;  his  marriage,  257; 
his  ministry  in  different  places,  257,  258  ;  his  auto- 
graph, 259;  fruits  of  his  ministry,  259-271,  281,  282  ; 
removed  to  Dosoris,  285  ;  subsequent  ministry,  287  ; 
his  death,  288;  his  character,  288,  289;  place  of  his 
burial,  291  ;  inscription  on  his  tomb-stone,  292;  his 
descendants,  293-313;  eminent  descendants  of  his 
daughters,  313. 

Woolsey,  Benjamin,  son  of  pastor  Woolsey,  and  his 
kindred,  299-31 1. 

Woolsey,  Benjamin,  grandson  of  Pastor  Woolsey,  302. 

Woolsey,  George,  grandfather  of  Southold's  third  pas- 
tor, 249-251  ;  marriage  of  to  Rebecca  Cornell,  253; 
fire  warden  of  New  York  ;  land  owner  of  Jamaica, 
patentee  of  that  place,  Town  Clerk,  254;  his  death, 
will  and  bequests,  254. 

Woolsey,  George,  father  of  Southold's  third  pastor, 
birth  and  baptism  of,  253  ;  his  wife  Hannah  and  their 
sons  George  and  Benjamin,  255  ;  his  death  and 
grave,  256. 

Woolsey,  George,  brother  of  Southold's  third  pastor, 
settled  in  Pennington,  New  Jersey,  founder  of  the 
family  there,  255,  256. 

Woolsey,  George  Muirson,  grandson  of  Pastor  Woolsey, 
and  his  descendants,  309-311. 

Woolsey,  Melancflhou  Lloyd,  and  his  kindred,  296-298. 


INDEX.  353 

Woolsey,  Col.  Melanfthon  Taylor,  and  his  kindred, 
293-295. 

Woolsey,  Commodore  Melanclhon  Taylor,  and  his  kin- 
dred, 298-299. 

Woolsey,  Theodore  Dwight,  I).  D.,  LL.  D.,  President  of 
Yale  College,  and  his  descendants,  307,  308. 

Woolsey,  William  Walton,  grandson  of  Pastor  Woolsey, 
and  his  descendants,  303-309. 

Worlingworth  and  Southolt,  letter  of  the  Reverend  Rec- 
tor of,  21. 

Worship,  public,  disturbance  of,  104;  and  punishment 
of  the  disturber,  105. 

Yale  College,  early  graduates  of,  240,  241. 

Yarmouth,  England,  Rev.  John  Youngs  desired  with 
his  family  to  emigrate  from,  18;  his  passage  forbid- 
den, 19,  24;  most  eastern  part  of  England,  25  ;  de- 
scription of,  249,  250. 

Yennecock  or  Yennecott,  Indian  name  of  Southold,  43. 

York,  Duke  of,  character  and  life  of,  136-138. 

Yorkshire  on  Long  Island,  88,  89. 

Youngs,  Anne,  daughter  ot  the  Rev.  John,  18. 

Youngs,  Benjamin,  son  of  the  Rev.  John  and  Recorder 
of  the  Town,  grave  of,  118;  witness  of  the  Indian 
Deed,  204. 

Youngs,  Christopher,  son  of  the  Rev.  John,  48. 

Youngs,  David,  in  7718  gave  land  in  Orient  for  the  site 
of  a  Meeting  House,  241,  277. 

Youngs.  Rev.  David,  sketch  of,  270,  271. 

Youngs,  Gideon,  son  of  the  Rev.  John,  48. 

Youngs,  Rev.  James,  Pastor  at  Chester,  N.  j.,  275,276. 

Youngs,  Joan,  wife  of  the  Rev.  John,  18. 

Youngs,  Rev.  fohn,  of  St.  Margaret's,  Suffolk,  desired 
with  his  family  to  pass  to  New  England,  18  ;  he  was 
forbidden,  18  ;  not  an  Incumbent  of  St.  Margaret's, 
Southolt  in  Suffolk,  20;  moved  from  Salem  to  New 
Haven,  24;  said  to  have  been  the  minister  of  a 
church  in  Hingham,  England.  25:  gathered  his 
church  anew,  Oct.  21,  1640,  in  Southold,  25  ;  fixed 
his  residence  in  this  place,  26;  dwelt  here  before  the 
purchase  in  August,  1640,  of  the  Indian  title,  39; 
many  descendants  of,  influential  and  eminent,  52  ;  his 
name  first  on  the  Town  Records,  84;  site  of  his 
home,  84;  his  possessions,  112;  his  death,  113;  his 


354  HISTORY    OF   SOUTHOLD. 

grave  and  the  inscription  on  his  tomb-stone,  114;  in- 
ventory and  administration  of  his  estate,  115,  116; 
names  of  his  children,  117  ;  theology  of  himself,  his 
church,  and  his  successors,  117,  u8  ;  his  copy  of 
Perkins's  works,  118;  place  of  his  long  sleep  in  the 
midst  of  his  people,  118;  hisfamily  probably  came 
to  America  with  the  widow  and  children  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  William  Ames,  250,  251. 

Youngs,  John,  Captain,  Colonel,  Judge,  eldest  son  of  the 
first  Pastor,  18;  an  original  settler,  47  ;  his  charac- 
ter and  life,  87  ;  his  dwelling  now  a  good  one  more 
than  two  hundred  years  old,  87  ;  the  foremost  man 
on  Long  Island  in  the  second  generation,  sketch  of 
his  life,  87-89  ;  his  death,  87;  his  grave,  118,  242; 
appointed  to  obtain  an  honest  godly  man  to  be  his 
fatner's  successor,  177  ;  authorized  to  have  a  pew  in 
the  Meeting  House,  212  ,  his  tomb-stone,  242. 

Youngs,  John,  mariner,  permitted  to  build  a  wharf,  93, 

Youngs,  John,  Governor  of  the   State  of  New  York,  a  • 
descendant    of   the   eldest   son    of   Southold's    first 
Pastor,  52. 

Youngs,  Joseph,  son  of  the  Rev.  John,  47. 

Youngs,  Joseph,  mariner,  an  early  settler,  48  ;  notice  of, 
86. 

Youngs,  Judge  Joshua,  269. 

Youngs,  Mary,  wife,  widow  and  administratrix  of  Rev. 
John,  1 16. 

Youngs,  Mary,  daughter  of  Rev.  John,  18. 

Youngs,  Rachel,  daughter  of  Rev  John,  18. 

Youngs,  Samuel,  son  of  Rev.  John,  47. 

Young,  Rev.  Thomas,  Recftor  of  Stow  Market  and  teach- 
er of  John  Milton,  22. 

Youngs,  Thomas,  son  of  Rev.  John,  an  early  settler,  re- 
moved to  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  18,  47,  52. 

Youngs,  Judge  Thomas,  allowed  the  certificate  of  the 
elecflion  of  the  first  Trustees  of  the  First  Church 
to  be  recorded,  231  ;  sketch  of  his  charatfler  and 
life,  269,  2/0. 

Youngs,  Zerubbabel,  son  of  Col.  John,  father  of  judge 
Joshua,  who  was  the  father  of  Judge  Thomas,  270. 


